The Santa Monica Bay Restoration :: Environment Environmental Pollution Essays

The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Pollution is a worldwide catastrophe that contaminates or destroys every living and non-living thing in its path. The earth is designed to constantly balance itself allowing plant and animal life the ability to thrive. Unfortunately when bombarded with chemicals, heavy metals and unnatural human waste, the earth exceeds its critical load and irreversible damage occurs. There are literally thousands of areas that have been negatively effected by the numerous types of pollution. To date there are over four thousand lakes alone where wildlife and human use ceases to exist. Pollution reeks such havoc on communities because it "knows no boundaries." Even if one country implements tough emission laws, a neighboring country's pollution may continue destroying its resources. To exemplify the ever increasing degree of pollution, I will be focusing on the Santa Monica Restoration Project. This project is an ongoing effort to maintain a clean and healthy environment in and surrounding the Santa Monica Bay so that plant and animal life are able to thrive. Unfortunately this project is continuously challenged by numerous pollutants. Pollution is a simplified way of classifying a multitude of harmful acts and elements. The Santa Monica Bay experiences pollution created by auto and homeowners, oil spills and leaks, gasoline and paint contamination from boats, wastewater from two local sewage treatment plants, litter and construction sediment. The goal of the restoration project is double fold. Number one, to clean up the bay in order to bring back plant and animal life that has either died or fled to other habitats, and two to make the individuals and companies who cause the contamination aware of the harmful acts they are engaging in daily. In many clean-up projects, officials initially point fingers at factories and large corporations assuming large facilities must be the cause of such horrendous pollutants. Unfortunately, what officials have discovered is that although industries do produce large amounts of waste, human activity produces even more. "Residential and open land uses together comprise ninety percent of the total Santa Monica Bay watershed area, and contribute eighty-two percent of the total runoff and the largest pollutant loads to the Bay." Auto and homeowners commit numerous actions that hurt the environment unknowingly. Simple acts such as overwatering one's lawn creates a runoff which cause pesticides and fertilizers to flow into storm drains that empty into the bay. Litter, pet waste and improperly disposed car care products cause the same problem.

Comparing Leadership Styles in Not-for-profit and For-profit Organizations :: Compare Contrast Business Non Profit Organization

Comparing Leadership Styles in Not-for-profit and For-profit Organizations Abstract Academic researchers have not found it important to attempt to complete studies based on leadership in non-profit organizations. A main problem that arises is that people tend to confuse the terms leadership and management with each other. Also leadership researchers tend to associate leadership in non-profit organizations with general research about leadership. These two problems result in a minimum amount of research done to support studies about leadership in non-profit organizations. This lack of study about leadership in non-profit versus for profit can tend to make people believe that there are no differences between the two. This study will attempt to differentiate between the two based on definitions, characteristics, tax laws, funding sources, organizational structure, incentives, leadership styles and human resources. This study will include semi structured interviews by the CEO of Guadenzia, a for profit organization in Baltimore City that provides counseling services for at risk youth in Northwest Baltimore and The Director of Northwest Baltimore Youth Services, Inc., a non-profit organization that also provides counseling services to at risk youth in Northwest Baltimore. This information will then be examined in regards to their similarities and differences. Statement of Problem Although there have been an unlimited amount of research done in reference to leadership styles in for profit organizations, there have been a lack of research done in the non-profit sector in regards to leadership. There have also been few research studies that address the differences in management process between non-profit organizations and for profit organizations. Research Questions 1. Is there really a difference in leadership styles between non-profit and for profit organizations? 2. Is the management process different in a non-profit organization than a for profit organization? Hypothesis 1. When it comes to problem solving, non-profit organizations is less concerned with the cost of a solution than a for profit organization. 2. In non-profit organizations they tend to find the â€Å"best solution† versus the â€Å"best cost solution† in the for profit sector. 3. It takes longer to solve a problem in a non-profit organization than in a for profit organization. Statement of Limitations This research will not attempt to prove that one form of business is better than the other, nor will it make any recommendations on what business to be part of or start.

Amazon.Com Supply Chain Management

Running head: Amazon. com Supply Chain Project Amazon. com Supply Chain Project Jarrel Nightingale [email  protected] edu Capella University BUS3004: Supply Chain Management Professor Dr. Robert Goldwasser December 10, 2012 Amazon. com Supply Chain Project Introduction In today’s society, Online Shopping and the industry of e-commerce has become very popular and mainstream. Many individuals have integrated online shopping into their normal routine and have replaced traditional shopping altogether.Online shopping has become so popular, there has been a shopping holiday called â€Å"Cyber Monday† which is the equivalent to â€Å"Black Friday. † Traditional brick and mortar retail stores are now forced to offer their products online in order to remain competitive. This is a new position for most businesses to be in, so businesses are forced to make the necessary adjustments to conform to the consumers’ demands. Complying with the demands of technology has b ecome a problem for some of the smaller businesses due to the lack of resources and infrastructure to produce these changes.Amongst the many online retailers that have emerged, Amazon. com has set itself apart as the industry leader in Online E-commerce. Since 1994, Amazon. com has built a successful empire that has become the default name for when one thinks about buying anything online. Through their documented success, Amazon. com has created the blueprint for those to follow in order to become a successful Online Retailer. In this assignment, I will discuss Amazon. com as it relates to their success and the structure of its company.Business Model Amazon. com sells books, music, and other items over the Internet and is one of the pioneers of consumer e-business. Amazon, based in Seattle, started by filling all orders using books purchased from a distributor in response to customer orders. This practice differs from that of a traditional bookstore, which usually purchases directly from publishers and stocks books in anticipation of customer orders. In 2008, Amazon had eight warehouses in the U. S. and another fifteen in the rest of the world.Amazon stocks many books, though it still gets other titles from distributors or publishers. It uses the U. S. Postal Service and other package carriers such as UPS and FedEx to send books to customers. Amazon has continued to expand the set of products that it sells online. Besides books and music, Amazon has added many product categories such as toys, apparel, electronics, jewelry, and shoes. (Chopra, et. Al, 2012) In addition to adding more products, the strategy of Amazon. com is technology based as it relates to consumer demand.Amazon's supply chain is so tightly integrated that when an online customer buys a couple of books and a CD, the order-management system communicates with inventory- and warehouse-management systems to find the optimal distribution center or centers for fulfilling the order. The customer know s in less than a minute how long it will take to ship the items and whether they will come in one package or separately (Bacheldor, 2004). Global Challenges Unlike most companies, Amazon. com has positioned itself to remain competitive in the national and global markets as well.Shipping is one of the most main expenses of e-commerce and shipping internationally can be a lengthy and expensive process. As mentioned earlier, Amazon. com has built new warehouses and changed the markets supplied by each warehouse as its customer base has grown. Currently there are 15 warehouses in total; 8 of those are located in the United States and the other 7 are located internationally. As a result, it has lowered shipping costs and improved responsiveness (Chopra, et. Al, 2012).There is a trade off because inventory and facility costs increase as the number of facilities in the supply chain increase; and transportation costs decrease as the number of facilities increase. The functionality of its te chnology is also designed to help with reducing costs so that transportation costs stay at a point where operating globally is still achievable. Amazon. com’s supply chain management applications communicate in real time when an order is placed and assigns shipping warehousing and cost based on location (Bacheldor, 2004).When the average company ships internationally the response time is typically in excess of 14 days and the cost to expedite takes any potential savings from purchasing online go away. Importance of Aggregate Planning Amazon. com is beginning to aggregate other e-commerce that are linked via strategic placement and investments. The vision is to make it so customers don’t have to go elsewhere to shop very often especially online (Scally, 2000). The reputation it has is so strong that any association with Amazon. com helps create an impression of validity and success for anyone that chooses to partner with them.Amazon has one of the most-sophisticated sup ply-chain systems in the world, and it was all built from scratch. Homemade applications handle nearly every aspect of its supply chain: warehouse management, transportation management, inbound and outbound shipping, demand forecasts, inventory planning, and more. In the last four years, Amazon has worked to minimize the need for human intervention in its supply-chain processes, such as manually inputting sales forecasts into an inventory-management system (Bacheldor, 2004).Today, Amazon's supply-chain apps communicate in real time, a rarity when most companies have to integrate a variety of software tools and manual processes, such as phone and fax orders. Ultimately, the goal is to try to â€Å"touch† every type of transaction on the web dealing with e-commerce and to integrate with business partners to enhance the online shopping experience (Scally, 2000). Many traditional brick and mortar stores are affiliating themselves with Amazon in order to gain online presence and s ell its merchandise online. This is a mutual benefit as it allows Amazon to continue to diversify its products.Role of Demand Forecasting and Pricing Promotions To achieve strategic fit, a firm must tailor its supply chain to best meet the needs of different customer segments. To retain strategic fit, supply chain strategy must be adjusted over the life cycle of a product and as the competitive landscape changes. Future risks, uncertainties, and environmental concerns must be accounted for when firms design their supply chain strategy. Customers ordering a book at Amazon. com are willing to wait longer than those who drive to a nearby Borders store to get the same book.In contrast, customers can find a much larger variety of books at Amazon compared to the Borders store. Thus, Amazon customers trade off fast response times for high levels of variety (Chopra, et. Al, 2012). Amazon offers its customers a large menu of prices for products that are purchased from the company. For exampl e, a person purchasing two books worth $30 could use standard shipping (ships in 3–5 business days) at a cost of $4. 98, two-day shipping (ships in 2 business days) at a cost of $13. 97, one-day shipping (ships in 1 business day) at a cost of $22. 97 or use free shipping (ships in 7–14 business days).The pricing menu allows Amazon to attract customers with varying levels of desired responsiveness (Chopra, et. Al, 2012). Whereas customers paying for one-day shipping impose a high degree of uncertainty on Amazon, customers opting for free shipping can be used to level out the workload at the warehouse over time. Amazon can thus use its pricing to provide responsiveness to those who value it while using customers who want a low price to help it improve its efficiency. Amazon also uses pricing effectively to shift some of the Christmas peak to November, by offering free or discounted shipping.The discount moves some of the December demand forward, allowing it to reduce its December peak and improve its efficiency without giving up on responsiveness for those customers who do not want to order earlier. Conclusion Since 1994, Amazon. com has built a successful empire that has become the default name for when one thinks about buying anything online. Through their documented success, Amazon. com has created the blueprint for those to follow in order to become a successful Online Retailer. By offering a vast variety of products, Amazon has changed the way many consumers shop for our merchandise.In addition to more options, the prices are often times cheaper even though the merchandise ordered is always shipped from a different location. What Amazon started in 1994 has now been revolutionized as Amazon continues to find ways to better the merchandise, the technology involved, and most important the customer experience. References Anonymous. 1998. IceGroup Releases Amazon. com Analysis . PR Newswire, Retrieved from www. lexisnexis. com/hottopics/lnacademic Bacheldor, B. (2004). FROM SCRATCH: Amazon keeps supply chain close to home. InformationWeek, (979), 40-40.Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/229180916? accountid=27965 Chopra, Sunil, Meindl, Peter. (05/2012). Supply Chain Management, 4/e for Capella University, 4th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions. Scally, R. (2000). Amazon. com: The force that's altering e-tail, one category at a time. DSN Retailing Today, 39(9), 42-44+. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/228466615? accountid=27965 Willis, C. (1998, Apr 06). Does amazon. com really matter? Forbes, , 55-58. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/195047045? accountid=27965

Is Television a Good or Bad Influence? Essay

In the year of 1926 a man called John Lougie Baird had invented something that has become part of the day-to-day lifestyle of nearly everyone. He had successfully tested it in a laboratory in late 1925 and unveiled with much fanfare in London in early 1926, and later mechanical television was quickly usurped by electronical television. Over the years television has developed greatly, going from black and white to coloured and ranging greatly in size. From portable and hand held televisions to widescreen and flat widescreen televisions, there is a choice to suit everyone. The most recent additions to this can vary from VCR’s to DVD’s to play stations and other games consoles. Also there are numerous networks, which you can choose from, such as ITV digital, cable, sky digital, etc. In this world today, there are people out there that think television is fantastic and that there is nothing out there that could spoil a nice, quiet night in, with a nice warm cup of coffee with their feet up in front of the television while there are others who don’t feel so strongly. They would rather smash that cup of coffee off the television. If you think that’s very extreme, think again, because there are people today that think television is the worst invention ever. There are some people with a point of view that television is a good influence. They think this because they think that television teaches children to be creative which is shown in documentaries and educational programmes. Maybe so, but do these people realise that the more time they spend watching television, the more time they’re taking out of their own social life and the more closer they are to becoming addicted to it. Do they know that two out of three network prime time shows illustrate some sort of sexual situation or dilemma between a couple, according to a study released in February 1999, by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, showed that only three percent of sitcoms discussed any of the risks and responsibilities associated with sex drugs and violence. Do they also know that foul language has increased on these shows and words absent on television ten years ago are now cropping up in more commonly in the scripts of characters on soaps and on every network? Would you want your children to grow up using bad language as part of their everyday speech? No definitely not I would ponder, If you ask my opinion, I would say that yes, television does teach children to be creative, but not in a good sense. With television progressing at this rate and filling up with more violence, sex and strong language which is easily accessed, these circumstances can be avoided by ensuring that children take part in more sports such as football, swimming, running, cycling and lots of others and watch less television. Also do you think that a, elderly person would watch a film happily that consists of a lot of violence and strong language? Television could that very strong impact on the elderly if maybe they watch too much of it. It could deprive them of their social life and watching too much television could lead an old woman or man into a deep depression, which could have very serious and, maybe even fatal consequences such as laziness and lack of exercise. Other views are that television s a bad influence especially on the younger generation maybe because there is too much violence and bad language which could have an affect on them and also on older people as they may cause offence, Maybe people think that living in this world means you are inclined anyway to seeing and hearing all this violence and bad language. There are views that it keeps children out of trouble and other views that it discourages play in younger children but they think that they are better off keeping their children inside than letting them out all the time and having a better chance of getting into trouble. I personally think that television is a bad influence on people of all ages. Violence on television affects children negatively, according to psychological research. The three major effects of seeing violence on television are that children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, children may be more fearful of the world around them and children may be more likely to behave in aggressive ways towards others. It is a fact that the average American child will have watched one hundred thousand acts of television, including eight thousand depictions of murder, by the time he or she finishes sixth grade, which is approximately thirteen years old. If you think wall to wall violence on television has no effect, why would you imagine that one-minute adverts in the breaks do have an effect and may pursued you to buy something? We live in an era where both parents are often working and children have more unsupervised time they mainly use this time to watch television. It is necessary that time is made for the younger generation to keep up with their day to day experiences, including while they are at school, if they attend school. Studies have shown that children’s television shows contain about twenty violent acts each hour. They also showed that children who watch a lot of television are more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place for cold and heartless people. In 1960, a man embarked on a landmark longitudinal study of over eight hundred eight-year-olds. He found that children who watched many hours of violent television tended to be more aggressive in the playground and the classroom. The same man checked back with these students eleven and twenty two years later. He found out that the aggressive eight-year-olds grew up to be aggressive nineteen-and thirty year-olds, with greater troubles – including domestic violence and more traffic tickets – than their less aggressive counterparts who did not watch as much television. And the researchers found that even if a child is not aggressive at the age of eight, but watches substantial amounts of violent programming, he or she tends to be more aggressive at nineteen than his or her peers who didn’t watch violent T.V. This just goes to show that television does have an affect on children at a young age, if not at that present time, and then it would take place in the future. Television also has effects on teenagers. A new study concludes that teenagers who watch more than an hour of television a day are more likely to be violent in later years. They are more likely to watch T.V if there is something on that interests them, no matter what the context, and most of these people have TV’s in their bedrooms which make it possible to watch TV to all hours, so their parents don’t have a say in what they watch really. Soaps like Coronation Street and Eastenders show young adults becoming pregnant and sometimes stealing cars and taking drugs and it all seems so easy and normal which could resort to some of these young adults taking part in doing these actions themselves and thinking that this is normal. For the elderly, television can most definitely have a bad influence. For example if an elderly woman sat and watched T.V all day, she could become sick, if she is not having her proper day to day exercise could lead to stiffness and aching joints. It could also cause stress if maybe a man seen the troubles in the news, such as the events of September 11th 2001 where two hijacked aircrafts were flew into the world trade centres of New York which caused the loss of thousands of lives and the destruction of the buildings themselves it could worry them and make them think that they should be out there doing something about it. That very day many people joined the US army as a result of television influencing them to do so. Also the United States are in another complication with Iraq over biological weapons the stories which are being stated on the news are very motivating and provoking and would make you feel that something has to be done about these problems. So television has become a bad influence to young children but also it has become a tool really for alerting the world of what is going but also advertising and provoking to adults and the elderly.

Philosopher’s Argument from Contingency

The Argument from Contingency in the world of Philosophy falls from asking the question â€Å"is the Universe Contingent?†Ã‚   But how can we say that the universe does appear to be contingent?In layman’s term, contingent means when a particular thing exists for the basic reason of chance and possibilities. Some things are created and formulated by people for the necessity’s sake. It can or can not exist.However in philosophy, contingent things are being categorize exclusively from the creation of people, planet, galaxy and the universe as a whole where humans can not possibly create them. Contingent things are caused to exist by something or someone else. Something must have produced them. The argument from contingency is used by some philosophers as an attempt to discuss and prove the existence of God.In philosophy, the argument of contingency is correlated to the existence of God and whether the existence of the universe is caused by God. There are three premi ses in this argument.First premise says that everything exists has an explanation of its existence either in the necessity of its own nature or in an external cause. Relating to the first premise, the universe then has an explanation of its existence and that reason is God. Therefore the explanation of the universe’s existence is God which means God exists (William 2007).Philosophy also started from the journey of seeking whether the existence of the Universe had a beginning or a caused. In Aquinas attempt to explain the existence of God, he formulated the Quinque viae or five proofs for the existence of God.The basic premise of these five arguments is that something caused the universe to exist. One of the arguments created that will be discussed on this paper is the argument from contingency. In this argument, it simply says that the world must have a beginning and God is the first cause so He therefore exists. Ordinary people who have weak foundation and curiosity when it comes to faith may just easily believe in this kind of conclusion.However thinkers and believers will definitely see flaws from this argument which allotted some philosophers to discuss and dig deeper the concept of this argument. In the end, it was concluded by some philosophers that the argument from contingency is invalid proof for God’s existence.To better understand the Argument from Contingency of Aquinas, it is important to critically discuss it. Aquinas observed that in nature there are things whose existence is contingent, it can or can not exist. Since it is possible for such things not to exist, there must be some time at which such things did not in fact exist.Thus, on probabilistic grounds, there must have been a time when nothing existed. If that is so, there would exist nothing that could bring anything into existence. Thus contingent beings are insufficient to account for the existence of contingent beings, meaning there must exist a Necessary Being for which it is impossible not to exist, and from which the existence of all contingent beings is derived (Argument from Contingency†).In general, the first cause in this argument should not require a cause since the chain of cause and effects can not be of infinite length. Therefore, there must be a cause which is God that doesn’t necessarily have to be an effect.Hume treatment on the argument from the contingency is reflected on his â€Å"Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion, Part IX† through the dialogue of Demea and Cleanthes. Hume contended that when we speak of cause we mean an explanation for an event. If that is so, surely at best it remains an assumption that every event must have a cause; for no one has ever provided explanations for every event that has occurred (Tobin 2000).  Hume claimed that even if it can be proved that a necessary being existed, it still fell short of showing that God as traditionally conceived and described existed. All it shows is that there is a necessary being of some sort. Why, Hume asked, couldn’t the universe itself be the necessary being that the argument seeks to demonstrate? (â€Å"An Argument for the Contingency of the Universe†).The idea of Kant about the caused or the existence of God can be explored too. Kant pointed out that the principle of there being a cause for every event applies, especially the existence of the universe, is only known to us through the world of our sense experience. People are not even sure whether the rational way of humans’ thinking actually has reached the origins of causes and explanations. What we assume to be the first cause may just as well be due to our ignorance of the cause and explanation for it (Tobin 2000).In other words, even great thinkers can not be sure whether their sense of experience and reason already reach the idea of the caused. For Kant and Hume, the argument from Contingency is obviously invalid to prove the existence of God.Philosop her Samuel Clarke also had a version related to argument from Contingency of Aquinas. There are three premises in Samuel Clarke’s version of the cosmological argument.Clarke states that every being that exists or ever did exist is either a dependent being or a self- existent being. Like the argument from contingency, Clarke also believes that not every being can be a dependent being. Therefore, there must exist a self existent being that may or may have a cause. God exists according to Clarke but He exists as an independent being that has no cause.F.C. Copleston and Bertrand Russell’s debate on the existence of a ‘cause’ is one of the most famous and substantial argument from contingency in the contemporary world.Their debate about God’s existence in 1948 is the most enduring version and analysis about the existence of God. Copleston argues on behalf of the existence of God by reviewing and reweaving Aquinas’ argument of contingency.Russell o n the other hand gave three principal objections to the argument of contingency namely: the unreality of modality, the unreality of causation and the unreality of the world as a totality (Koons, 2000).F.C. Copleston starts out by saying that all beings and circumstances are contingent. These contingent beings must have a beginning and this beginning exists and is necessary for the existence of all other contingent beings. Copleston says, â€Å"Something does exist; therefore, there must be something which accounts for this fact, a being which is outside the series of contingent beings.†It means that contingent beings do not have a reason to exist without some beginning.   This leads to the concept of God being there who exist for the universe’s existence. In the debate, he also says that He is His own sufficient reason; and he is not a cause for Himself.Only contingent beings needs a cause but God as not contingent doesn’t need a cause. Copleston also conclude d that the existence of God is the only rational explanation to the people’s moral order of thinking. Thus, a person who loves goodness and who acknowledges moral rightness loves and acknowledges God (â€Å"A Debate on the Argument from Contingency 1948†).Bertrand Russell on the other hand, opposes Copleston on his view of the existence of God. He states that he does not agree with the suggestion of the word contingent and said it is a useless word unless it will be deeply analyzed.So the concept of a necessary being is even more senseless to him. He also does not think that the word universe has any in depth meaning of its own. Russell’s strongly claims that there is no overall cause for the things of this world just like the whole human race cannot have one mother.Russell’s overall claim as oppose to the argument from contingency is that â€Å"there is no overall cause for the things of this world. He claims that there is no overall reason or cause for the existence of the universe. The world exists in its own sake and its just there and no particular meaning or purpose of its own. In answering Copleston idea of moral code imposed to human beings, Russell said that the human judgment of right and wrong is just brought about by experience.Classic and contemporary philosophers gave different point of views on the Aquinas’s argument from contingency but until now despite the liberation of thoughts, no great thinker can fully prove the existence of God.One, either believer or non believer, will always ask the question if God exists where did God came from. This is the Kant’s idea that something beyond the universe can not be fully grasp by any kind of human thinking. As long as God does not revealed Himself personally and literally in this world, there will always be agnostic and sceptics about His existence.Works Cited Page:Craig, William. Subject 2007: Argument from Contingency. Reasonable Faithwith William Lane Craig .http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5847Tobin Paul 2000, Thomas Aquinas and the Five Ways. The Rejection of  Pascal's Wager, A Skeptics Guide to Chistianityhttp://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/aquinas.html#2wayâ€Å"An Argument for the Contingency of the Universe† 2007. Undetached Rabbit  Parts. Western Michigan University. 2007http://wmuphilosophy.blogspot.com/â€Å"Argument from Contingency†. Encyclopedia.http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Argument- from-contingency#The_argument_from_contingencyTeuberr, Andreas 2008. â€Å"Four of Aquinas' Five Ways and Samuel Clarke'sVersion†. Cosmological Argument. Brandeis University. The President and Fellows of Harvard College.http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/philcosmo.htmlKoons, Robert 2000. Defeasible Reasoning, Special Pleading and the  Cosmological Argument. University of Texas.http://www.arn.org/docs/koons/rk_defeasible.htmâ€Å"A Debate on the Argument from Contingency of Fat her F.C. Copleston andBertrand Russell† 1948. Third Program of the British Broadcasting Corporation.http://www.catholicapologetics.info/catholicteaching/philosophy/conting.htm

Stem cell research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stem cell - Research Proposal Example The Mbd3/NuRD complex needed for the above conversion is needed for the development of pluripotent cells. Kaji K, Caballero IM, MacLeod R, Nichols J, Wilson VA and Hendrich B carried out further research and showed that ES cells lacking Mbd3, though viable, were unable to silence the gene expression prior to embryo implantation. Yamanaka and Takahashi converted adult somatic cells in mice to iPS cells through the forced expression of four factors, Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc. I hope to further investigate the role that epigenetic silencing plays in pluripotent cells. This field of research still remains open for the purpose of further study and I would like to work on a cell line of mouse ES cells that have retained their pluripotent nature to understand the underlying process of gene silencing and defined genetic program repression in them. The role that the Leukemia Inhibitory factor (LIF) plays in developmental lineages would also be a part of the research

Obesity and hormonal imbalance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Obesity and hormonal imbalance - Essay Example Heredity and age-related changes are among them, but, perhaps, hormonal violations are at the top of this list (Bray &York, 1997). Hormonal failure is the manifestation of the hormonal violations, which are available in an organism and can be caused by various reasons. Thus, hormonal failure influences not only the state of reproductive system of a woman, but also can cause deterioration of her physical and emotional health. Hormonal failure can be expressed as violation of a menstrual cycle or manifestation of a climacteric syndrome. Violation of hormonal balance can affect the course of pregnancy and childbirth causing serious problems in certain cases â€Å"Obesity is associated with multiple alterations in the endocrine system, including abnormal circulating blood hormone concentrations, which can be due to changes in the pattern of their secretion and/or metabolism, altered hormone transport and/or action at the level of target tissues. In recent years a great stimulus in both basic and clinical research has, on one hand, produced a great deal of knowledge on the pathophysiology of obesity, and, on the ot her, led to the discovery of new hormones† (Pasquali and Vicennati, 2001, p. 225). Physicians have studied this question for long and came to the conclusion that fluctuations of level of some hormones in an organism directly influence weight. Hormones are biologically active agents, which participate in many vital processes, including development, growth and metabolism. â€Å"No matter how an imbalance manifests on the outside, the internal reality remains the same—any and all hormonal imbalance leads to difficulty losing weight and increased risk of obesity. Unfortunately, the most common imbalances cannot be solved by dieting alone. In fact, they can prevent successful fat loss, even when great diet and exercise plans are in place† (Turner, 2015). The thyroid gland, liver, adrenal glands and other bodies are responsible for their development and