The Military in Art Free Essays

The word propaganda has come to have sinister overtones though this was not always the case. Propaganda today evokes images of sinister lies and obfuscations told by enemies of the state to sway the minds of the citizens. Yet in a larger sense all art is propaganda to some degree and military art is propaganda on a grand scale. We will write a custom essay sample on The Military in Art or any similar topic only for you Order Now Art is designed to cause an emotional response in the viewer. Throughout history artists have served the state, willingly or not so willingly, in an effort to further the aims of the government, be it republic or clan of elders.   Those works of art that are most effective are those that hit the viewer viscerally and cause a response that is near equal to the actual event being depicted in the art work. The works mentioned here are like that. I served in the United States Air Force for six years as a military policeman. I have traveled to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Korea. I have seen artwork that has evoked emotion in me and I have seen art that was truly representational of the events I have seen. James Dietz’ work, I Shall Defeat Them on the Battlefield, can be found as a limited edition print from the online gallery of the artist. The image size is 36† x 21.5 â€Å". It depicts the United States Army 75th Ranger Unit on the ground. This unit remains the Army’s premier special operations force capable of conducting a full spectrum of operations to include direct action raids and forced entry operations (JamesDietz.com). Dietz depicts an action scene in a dim setting. In the background is the skyline of a city that was ancient in the days when Christ walked the lands of the Middle East. The modern warriors, carrying firearms and dressed in body armor seem incongruent beneath the palms and the domed edifices creating the negative space in the lower portion of the sky. An automobile is in the streets where camels would seem more at home, juxtaposed in contrast to the ancient city and the modern warriors, signifying a delivery system of enemy fire. First Boots on the Ground, by William Phillips, is now available as a limited edition print, measuring 31† x 19 â€Å". It is a classic scene from the Viet Nam era, featuring a sky filled with helicopters and reminiscent of Apocalypse Now. The work depicts the 1965 battle of La Drang Valley, famous for its intensity.   â€Å"At 10:48 the helicopter touches down, and Lt. Col. Moore, Sgt. Major Plumley, Capt. Metsker, Bob Ovellette, Al Bosse and Vietnamese translator Mr. Nik become the first boots on the ground at La Drang† (OzarkAirFieldsArtworks 2005). This art is compelling and personal to me for it depicts the ultimate in warfare, that time when the soldier commits and becomes a weapon aimed at the heart of the enemy. He has left the relative safety of the helicopter. He no longer is behind the line depending on artillery or mortar fire, but rather advances, putting his life on the line as he moves inexorably toward the opposing warrior. Charlene Cooper’s moving artwork, titled with the acronym B.O.M.B., signifying Blood of My Brothers, is a drawing in graphite and colored pencil. The intense blue of the flag is complimented by the red of the tear streaming down the face of the warrior. It appeals to me for reasons that would be clear to most combat veterans, as it shows the side of a soldier seldom seen or discussed openly. The man holds a folded American Flag as that single tear, executed in the red of blood, is seen to escape his eye. He shows the pent up emotion which soldiers rarely display and gives the viewer the understanding that he is a flesh and blood creature, endowed with all the sentiment and feeling of any other man. He is proud of the job he has done, but keenly aware of the price that was ultimately paid by so many of his friends and compatriots. I find Cooper’s work the most compelling of these three, for it appeals to a side of me that is most often hidden from the view of others. It touches me in a place where I am alone with my feelings and appeals to me on a spiritual level. Even her choice of title is compelling, bringing to the piece a thought-provoking message that transcends the art and gives the viewer ideas that there is more to the piece than what appears on the surface, making it multi-leveled and multi-dimensional. Works Cited Artwanted.com  Ã‚  Ã‚   2007 B.O.M.B. (Blood of My Brothers) Retrieved 10-8-2007 From: http://www.artwanted.com/imageview.cfm?id=458010  Ã‚  Ã‚   JamesDietz.com 2007 I Shall Defeat Them on the Battlefield Retrieved 10-8-2007 OzarkAirFieldArtworks.com  Ã‚   2005   First Boots on the Ground Retrieved 10-8- 2007 from: http://www.ozarkairfieldartworks.com/firstbootsontheground.html                      . How to cite The Military in Art, Essay examples

Nanoparticle free essay sample

Abstract The encapsulation of enzymes in microenvironments and especially in liposomes, has proven to greatly improve enzyme stabilization against unfolding, denaturation and dilution effects. Combining this stabilization effect, with the fact that liposomes are optically translucent, we have designed nano-sized spherical biosensors. In this work liposome-based biosensors are prepared by encapsulating the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in L-a phosphatidylcholine liposomes resulting in spherical optical biosensors with an average diameter of 300  ± 4 nm. Porins are embedded into the lipid membrane, allowing for the free substrate transport, but not that of the enzyme due to size limitations. The enzyme activity within the liposome is monitored using pyranine, a ? uorescent pH indicator. The response of the liposome biosensor to the substrate acetylthiocholine chloride is relatively fast and reproducible, while the system is stable as has been shown by immobilization within sol–gel.  © 2004 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Encapsulation; Liposomes; Fluorescent probe; Biosensor; Acetylcholinesterase 1. Introduction Liposomes are nanoscale spherical shells composed of lipid bilayers that enclose an aqueous phase. They are easily produced and stable in solution for a long period of time, with no signi? cant changes in size or structure (Woodle, 1995). In addition the biocompatible microenvironment of the liposomes, along with the ability to control their physicochemical properties, make them very appealing for a wide range of applications (Walde and Ichikawa, 2001). The most widespread application of liposomes is as carriers of functional substances and drugs. Controlled release of these substances is achieved under speci? c chemical or physical conditions. However due to their unique physical and chemical properties, liposomes can be used in a variety of other applications. For example, it has been observed that enzymes ? Corresponding author. Tel. : +30 2810 393 618; fax: +30 2810 393 601. E-mail address: [emailprotected] uoc. gr (N. A. Chaniotakis). are considerably stabilized within the nano-environment of liposomes, since they are protected from unfolding and proteolysis. Liposomes can effectively protect enzymes from the aggression of external agents such as proteases (Winterhalter et al. , 2001). In addition, enzymes entrapped in liposomes are stabilized against unfolding forces due to hydrophobic interactions between the enzyme and the liposome membrane (Han et al. , 1998). One other important characteristic is that enzymes encapsulated inside liposomes retain their activity even at very low concentrations (Nasseau et al. , 2001). At the same time liposomes are optically translucent, and can thus be used as optical sensor elements (Kulin et al. 2003; Singh et al. , 2000). Combining these characteristics one can envision that under speci? c experimental conditions they can be used for the development of nano-sized optical biosensors. Despite the fact that liposomes seem to be very promising nanomaterials in biosensor design only few reports dealing with this issue exist in literature. Initial attempts to develop liposome-based electrochemical biosen sors have been per- 0956-5663/$ – see front matter  © 2004 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved. doi:10. 1016/j. bios. 2004. 10. 028 V. Vamvakaki et al. Biosensors and Bioelectronics 21 (2005) 384–388 385 formed with glucose oxidase (Taylor et al. , 1997; Kaszuba and Jones, 1999) on screen printed electrodes (Memoli et al. , 2002) as well as on chitosan gel beads (Wang et al. , 2003). In this study, the development of nano-biosensors using a different approach is presented. Our approach is based on the encapsulation of all the active reagents of an optical biosensor within the liposome environment. The analyte transport is achieved using porins which have been incorporated within the lipid bilayers. Based on the stabilizing effect of liposomes, the inherently unstable enzyme acetylcholinesterase from Drosophila melanogaster is encapsulated in the internal aqueous phase of liposomes. In order to have a sensitive transduction method through the walls of the liposome, a pH sensitive ? uorescence probe is used. These nanostructures are stable enough to be evaluated either as stand-alone nano-biosensors, or immobilized into an optimised sol–gel matrix. tometer (UNICAM 8625). Acryl optical cuvettes were obtained from Sarstedt. 2. 2. Liposome biosensor Encapsulation of acetylcholinesterase in egg phosphatidylcholine liposomes was performed following the lipid ? lm’s hydration technique (Chaize et al. , 2003). For the preparation of liposomes 5 mg egg phosphatidylcholine were mixed with 5 L of a 2 mg/mL stock solution of OmpF porin in 1% octyl-POE detergent. Then 100 L phosphate buffer 25 mM, pH = 7. 8 were added slowly to the solution and consequently 100 L of Drosophila AChE (? 500 OD/mL) and 30 L of 7. 6 ? 10? 5 M pyranine solution were introduced. The mixture was subjected to 50 freeze-thaw cycles by successive dipping in a liquid nitrogen bath (? 95 ? C) and a water bath (37 ? C). It has been reported in the literature that encapsulation ef? ciency increases by increasing number of freeze-thaw cycles (Chaize et al. , 2003; Colletier et al. , 2002). Even though the encapsulation ef? ciency is quite high even after only 10 freeze-thaw cycles, 50 cycles were chosen in order to obtain the maximum attainabl e encapsulation of enzyme in the liposomes. Next the sample was diluted to 1 mL with 25 mM phosphate buffer pH = 7. 8. To obtain liposomes of homogenous size the sample was extruded 10 times through polycarbonate ? lters with a pore size of 0. 2 m. The size of the liposome was measured to be 300  ± 4 nm in diameter using dynamic light scattering. The non-encapsulated enzyme was deactivated by adding 5 mg/mL pronase and incubating for 3 h at room temperature. In all cases, AChE activity was measured photometrically at 412 nm according to the sensitive Ellman’s method (Ellman et al. , 1961), in 25 mM phosphate buffer, pH = 7. 0 at 25 ? C. The schematic diagram for the development of the liposome biosensor is shown in Fig. 1. 2. 3. Liposome entrapment in sol–gel A silica sol was prepared by sonication for 20 min of TMOS/deionised water (5/1) in 0. 4 M HCl. The liposomes with the encapsulated enzyme were then mixed with the sol–gel solution at a ratio of 2:1, and the mixture was poured on the side of cuvettes. The immobilized enzyme in each cuvette was 6. 4 pmol. Gelation was occurred within a few minutes, resulting in a transparent ? lm. To avoid the shrinkage, 2. Materials and methods 2. 1. Reagents and ins trumentation Truncated cDNA encoding soluble wild type acetylcholinesterase from D. melanogaster (Dm. AChE), was expressed with the baculovirus system (Chaabihi et al. , 1994). Secreted AChE was puri? ed to homogeneity by af? ity chromatography as previously reported (Estrada-Mondaca and Fournier, 1998). Under these conditions the enzyme is stable for more than 1 week at room temperature. Expression and puri? cation of the outer membrane protein OmpF, from Escherichia coli has recently been described (Saint et al. , 1996). Acetylthiocholine chloride (ATChCl) and L-a phosphatidylcholine from egg yolk and the ? uorescent indicator pyranine (1-hydroxypyrene-3,6,8-trisulfonic acid) were purchased from Sigma. Tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) was obtained from Aldrich. In all experiments nanopure water (? 18 M , EASYpure model D7033, Barnstead) was used. All other reagents used were of analytical grade. Fluorescence spectral data were recorded on an AmincoBowman series 2 luminescence spectrometer equipped with a continuous high power xenon lamp. All samples were analyzed at room temperature. The excitation and emission slits were set at 4 nm band-pass with a scan rate of 3 nm/s. Optical measurements were performed with a UV–vis spectropho- Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the liposome-biosensor design. 386 V. Vamvakaki et al. / Biosensors and Bioelectronics 21 (2005) 384–388 the cuvettes with the sol–gel were stored at 4 ? C in phosphate buffer 25 mM, pH = 7. 8. 2. 4. Measuring procedure All measurements were performed by adding the substrate acetylthiocholine chloride to the cuvettes containing the solution of AChE/liposomes or the immobilized AChE/liposomes in the sol–gel matrix. The porins embedded on the liposome membranes permit the substrate’s entrance in the internal nano-environment of the liposomes where the enzymatic reaction takes place. The latter results in the production of acetic acid and thus pH changes at the local nano-environment of the enzyme. This in turn alters the ? uorescence signal of the pyranine indicator which is subsequently correlated to the substrate concentration. Fig. 2. pH titration curve of pyranine. The change in ? uorescence signal of pyranine at 513 nm is recorded at different pH values. 3. Results and discussion The enzymatic reaction of AChE is shown in the following scheme: Acetylthiocholine + H2 O ? Thiocholine + Acetic acid Acetic acid production during the hydrolysis of the substrate acetylthiocholine results in the decrease of the pH value of the immediate aqueous environment surrounding the enzyme. AChE activity inside liposome is usually monitored using the classic photometric Ellman method (Chaize et al. , 2003; Ellman et al. , 1961). In this study a ? uorescence detection scheme is chosen as the transduction method. It is well known that ? uorescence provides higher sensitivity, lower detection limits and wider concentration range. In the proposed biosensor system, the ? uorescence detection of the enzymatic activity is accomplished simply by the introduction of a ? uorescent indicator within the liposome. This one-step procedure provides a simple self-contained stable nano-biosensor, thus avoiding the two steps required by the Ellman’s method for the detection of the enzymatic activity. AChE achieves optimum catalytic ef? iency when placed in neutral pH aqueous solutions. For this reason, and in order to develop a ? uorescent biosensor based on AChE, a pH indicator with pKa value close to pH 7. 0 is required. After a comprehensive literature search it became evident that Pyranine could ful? l these requirements. Pyranine is a pH sensitive ? uorescent indicator whose excitation and emission wavelengths wer e found at 460 and 513 nm, respectively. This indicator has a pKa value of 7. 3, it is highly soluble in water and membrane impermeable (Zignani et al. , 2000). Based on these characteristics, it is expected that this indicator could ful? the requirements set above for the optical AChE-based biosensor. In order to determine the working pH range, titration of the ? uorescent indicator was initially performed. As it can be seen from the resulting titration curve (Fig. 2) there is AChE a linear relationship between the pH value of the solution and the ? uorescence signal of the pyranine for a pH range between 7. 0 and 7. 8. In order to ensure the highest possible sensitivity of ? uorescence changes upon pH changes within the liposome, together with a wide dynamic range, the pH value of 7. 8 is chosen as the starting point. The time required to obtain a signi? cantly high signal for analytical purposes was determined next. To a buffered solution (pH 7. 8) containing the pH indicator pyranine and the enzyme AChE, additions of the substrate acetylthiocholine to different ? nal concentrations were performed. From these data (data not given) it was determined that the ? uorescent signal of the solution changed dramatically within a few minutes after substrate addition, and thus measurements could be made anytime after an initial 5 min waiting period. In the next step, the response of the liposome biosensor to acetylthiocholine was evaluated. The substrate was added to the enzyme loaded liposomes and the ? uorescent signal of pyranine was monitored over time. As shown in Fig. 3a the ? uorescence intensity of the indicator within the liposomes decreases with a rate that is proportional to the substrate concentration in the solution. Increasing the substrate concentration decreases the ? uorescence, with a response time in the order of a few minutes. Fig. 3b shows the calibration curve of the biosensor plotted as the ? uorescence intensity versus substrate concentration for 10 min reaction time. From this graph the substrate sensitivity of the sensor for substrate concentrations between 1. 0 and 13. 3 mM is calculated to be 8. 2 ? 10? 3 Abs min? 1 mM? 1 . In addition the detection limit of the sensor is calculated to be less than 1. 0 mM. Liposomes are very small, and thus dif? cult to handle as biosensors. In order to obtain a stand-alone biosensor device the biosensing element has to be immobilized on a more convenient platform. Such immobilization of the biosensor system can be used continuously and for successive measurements, while it can easily be introduced into other analytical systems, such as micro-devices or ? w injection systems. For this study, a transparent sol–gel matrix is used as the immobi- V. Vamvakaki et al. / Biosensors and Bioelectronics 21 (2005) 384–388 387 Fig. 3. (a) Fluorescence signal of AChE/liposome biosensor over time, for different ATChCl concentrations: 2. 5, 5. 0, 10. 0 and 13. 3 mM. (b) Calibration curve of the AChE/liposome b iosensor. To obtain the calibration curve, the ? uorescence intensity after 10 min reaction time was recorded for each substrate concentration. The immobilized enzyme was 6. 4 pmol and the ? uorescence signal was monitored at 513 nm. ization matrix of the nano-biosensor. The procedure for the formation of the sol–gel was precisely optimized in order to provide well-formed, smooth and reproducible membranes. For this reason, different sol–gel matrices were prepared and the most suitable for the speci? c use was chosen on the basis of ? lm quality (smooth ? lm, crack-free), transparency, and good adhesion to the polymeric optical window of the cuvette. The sol–gel biosensor was evaluated based on the ? uorescence signal of pyranine. The change of the biosensor signal with time at different substrate concentrations is shown in Fig. a, while the corresponding calibration curve obtained 10 min after the introduction of the substrate is shown in Fig. 4b. The biosensor showed a linear range of response that extended from 1. 0 to 15. 0 mM and the observed sensitivity to the substrate was 7. 5 ? 10? 3 Abs min? 1 mM? 1 . The sensorto-sensor reproducibility was very good with a R. S. D. value of less than 1% (N = 3). When the enzyme loaded liposomes are incubated with Triton X-100 the sensitivity of the biosensor increases on account of the lysis of the liposomes. This observation veri? es that the nzyme is encapsulated in the internal microenvironment of the liposome. It is also important to note that even the very small amount of enzyme incorporated in each biosensor system (6. 4 pmol) is suf? cient to obtain a reliable ? uorescence signal. This implies that using this biosensor system, monitoring of inhibitors (e. g. organophosphorus pesticides) can be achieved with high sensitivity and very low detection limit. A comparison between the AChE/liposome biosensor and the AChE/liposome sol–gel biosensor shows that the two systems have similar a nalytical characteristics. In both cases the response time is less than 10 min while the sensitivity of the biosensor remained approximately the same. Enzyme kinetics were also unaffected by the sol–gel immobilization step. It has been calculated that the apparent Km value is close to 5. 5 mM in both cases. This fact further enhances the ap- Fig. 4. (a) Fluorescence signal of the AChE/liposome sol–gel biosensor with time, for different ATChCl concentrations: 1. 0, 5. 0, 16. 6 and 33. 3 mM. (b) Calibration curve of the AChE/liposome sol–gel biosensor. To obtain the calibration curve, the ? orescence intensity after 10 min reaction time was recorded for each substrate concentration. The immobilized enzyme was 6. 4 pmol and the ? uorescence signal was monitored at 513 nm. 388 V. Vamvakaki et al. / Biosensors and Bioelectronics 21 (2005) 384–388 Acknowledgments This work is being supported by the program â€Å"Iraklitos† of the Greek Ministry of Education and the European Commiss ion Program â€Å"GANANO† (Contract No. STREP 505641-1). We would also like to thank Prof. A. K. Rizos for the Dynamic Light Scattering measurement. References Chaabihi, H. , Fournier, D. , Fedon, Y. , Bossy, J. P. , Ravallec, M. Devauchelle, G. , C? rutti, M. , 1994. Biochemical characterization of e Drosophila melanogaster acetylcholinesterase expressed by recombinant baculoviruses. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 203, 734–742. Chaize, B. , Winterhalter, M. , Fournier, D. , 2003. Encapsulation of acetylcholinesterase in preformed liposomes. BioTechniques 34, 1158–1162. Colletier, J. P. , Chaize, B. , Winterhalter, M. , Fournier, D. , 2002. Protein encapsulation in liposomes: ef? ciency depends on interactions between protein and phospholipid bilayer. BMC Biotechnol. 2, 9. Ellman, G. L. , Courtney, K. D. , Andres Jr. , V. , Featherstone, R. M. , 1961. A new and rapid colorimetric determination of acetylcholinesterase activity. Biochem. Pharmacol. 7, 88–95. Estrada-Mondaca, S. , Fournier, D. , 1998. Stabilization of recombinant drosophila acetylcholinesterase. Prot. Expr. Purif. 12, 166–172. Han, X. , Li, G. , Li, K. , 1998. FTIR study of the thermal denaturation of a-actinin in its lipid-free and dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol-bound states and the central and N-terminal domains of a-actinin in D2 O. Biochemistry 37, 10730–10737. Kaszuba, M. , Jones, M. N. , 1999. Hydrogen peroxide production from reactive liposomes encapsulating enzymes. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1419, 221–228. Kulin, S. , Kishore, R. , Helmerson, K. , Locascio, L. , 2003. Optical manipulation and fusion of liposomes as microreactors. Langmuir 19 (20), 8206–8210. Memoli, A. , Annesini, M. C. , Mascini, M. , Papale, S. , Petralito, S. , 2002. A comparison between different immobilised glucoseoxidase-based electrodes. J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. 29, 1045–1052. Nasseau, M. , Boublik, Y. , Meier, W. , Winterhalter, M. , Fournier, D. , 2001. Substrate-permeable encapsulation of enzymes maintains effective activity, stabilizes against denaturation, and protects against proteolytic degradation. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 75, 615–618. Saint, N. , Windmer, C. , Luckey, M. , Schirmer, T. , Rosenbuch, J. P. , 1996. Structural and functional characterization of OmpF porin mutants selected for larger pore size. J. Biol. Chem. 271, 20676–20680. Singh, A. K. , Harrison, S. H. , Schoeniger, J. S. , 2000. Gangliosides as receptors for biological toxins: development of sensitive ? uoroimmunoassays using ganglioside-bearing liposomes. Anal. Chem. 72 (24), 6019–6024. Taylor, M. A. , Jones, M. N. , Vadgama, P. M. , Higson, S. P. , 1997. The effect of lipid bilayer manipulation on the response of the glucose oxidaseliposome electrode. Biosens. Bioelectron. 12, 467–477. Walde, P. , Ichikawa, S. , 2001. Enzymes inside lipid vesicles: preparation, reactivity and applications. Biomol. Eng. 18, 143–177. Wang, S. , Yoshimoto, M. , Fukunaga, K. , Nakao, K. , 2003. Optimal covalent immobilization of glucose oxidase-containing liposomes for highly stable biocatalyst in bioreactor. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 83, 444–453. Winterhalter, M. , Hilty, C. , Bezrukov, S. M. , Nardin, C. , Meier, W. , Fournier, D. , 2001. Controlling membrane permeability with bacterial porins: application to encapsulated enzymes. Talanta 55, 965–971. Woodle, M. C. , 995. Sterically stabilized liposome therapeutics. Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 16, 249–265. Zignani, M. , Drummond, D. C. , Meyer, O. , Hong, K. , Leroux, J. C. , 2000. In vitro characterization of a novel polymeric-based pH-sensitive liposome system. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1463, 383–394. Fig. 5. Fluorescence signal of the sol–gel AChE biosensor over time for 16. 6 mM ATChCl: ( ) sol–gel with free AChE, and ( ) sol–gel biosensor with liposome immobilized AChE. The total amount of immobilized enzyme in both cases with and without liposome was 6. 4 pmol and the ? uorescence signal was monitored at 513 nm. licability of the sol–gel immobilized liposome biosensor, since this matrix does not introduce any additional diffusion barriers and thus it does not have any effect on enzyme kinetics. Since the by-products of the sol–gel process can be detrimental to the enzymes, sol–gel biosensors with free AChE and liposome loaded AChE were prepared and evaluated. As it can be seen from Fig. 5 the ? uorescent signal over time for a given substrate concentration of the free AChE sol–gel biosensor shows signi? cant deterioration on the sensitivity over time, compared to the biosensor with liposome immobilized AChE. This reduced response of the free AChE biosensor, versus the liposome based one is attributed to partial deactivation of the AChE in the sol–gel matrix. The stability of the liposome immobilized AChE biosensor indicates that the enzyme is considerably stabilized against denaturation from the methanol produced during the hydrolysis process of the silicate solution. 4. Conclusions In this paper a novel biosensor system was developed using porin embedded AChE loaded liposomes containing pyranine as the optical, ? uorescent indicator. The nano-sized liposomes provide a suitable environment for the effective stabilization of enzymes. The porins allow for the expedient transport of the substrate through the liposome walls, while the enzyme is entrapped due to its physical size. The incorporation of these enzyme loaded liposomes into sol–gel matrices provides an optically active biosensor with good overall analytical characteristics. The proven ability to monitor very low enzymatic activity, the very good sensor-to-sensor reproducibility and the signi? cant stability of the system provide the grounds for the application of the presented nanobiosensors in the detection of organophosphorus pesticides and other toxic AChE inhibitors.

Television Today free essay sample

A look at the way television viewing has progressed today and how it may look in the future. A look at the current switch from analog television to digital television. The author discusses the way television has progressed today and the type of quality, sound and picture it offers and compares it to the past. An examination of digital transmission and progressions into the future. Once upon a time right after our parents got home from walking sixteen miles to school, uphill each way, in the snow, with people throwing rocks at them they sat down with their milk and cookies to watch black-and-white television. And while television has obviously acquired color in the years since the first generation of sets began to be commonplace in American households, they have otherwise in many ways remained remarkably similar to those first sets. But now the world of digital television is almost upon us, promising at least a technical revolution, and possibly a social one as well. We will write a custom essay sample on Television Today or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For television is so deeply embedded into our national consciousness that any dramatic change in the technology that delivers the pictures on the small screen into our lives is almost guaranteed to have a substantial effect on American culture as we take the first major step in television redesign since the introduction of electronic television two generations ago.

Marketing Theories Naive As Result of Bad Data †Marketing Essay

Marketing Theories Naive As Result of Bad Data – Marketing Essay Free Online Research Papers Marketing Theories Naive As Result of Bad Data Marketing Essay Most marketing and advertising theories are quite naive but marketers are not surprised because of the incomplete data we have on people and environment. The rules of advertising and marketing often overlook time dimension and consider position and image of the brand as fixed and unchangeable. But reality is different – only name and logo of the brand are static, everything else, for example consumers and their loyalty to the brand, is exceedingly dynamic. That is why marketers continually adjust their market communication. Today we are aware that the life time cycle of the brand is longer than the life time cycle of the product itself and majority of them extend to 19th or the beginning of 20th century which is evidently a consequence of good managing which is possible only if have the knowledge of consumers experiences with the brand. But most advertisers consider this only in the first phase of the product (when the product is introduced to the market) when they want to achieve recognition of the brand and later on emotions that consumer feels using the brand. But after this first phase the development of the product stops and no one considers to make changes when necessary and this kind of treatment leads the brand to its death and a lot of lost opportunities. In last few decades slovene advertising agencies used to suggest companies they should constantly launch new products on the market which needed a new name, logo, packaging, advertising strategy and so on so the agencies could earn some extra money. Todays brands policy is different – a company can expand the brand from one product to many of them and thus easier retains recognition, of course with advertising, innovation, new products etc. Because of this new policy slovene companies (with lots of different brands with no clear identity) now have to struggle with foreign brands that rapidly took big market shares. The second problem for these brands are private labels that have even bigger market share because consumers notice no difference in quality compared to manufacturers brand, exept in price, and the third problem is globalisation. So all these traps demand rapid changes – only those brands that will adjust in time and will offer recognizable identity and values will survive. One of possible solutions is uniting smaller brands into controllable number of strong brands which enables exploitation of the input and control of the brand. To make this possible, we have to remember that its not only the image of the brand that is important, but we must also refresh the brand, its quality, styling etc. A good strategy is a complicated structure but the real joy comes when we finally reach our goal. Research Papers on Marketing Theories Naive As Result of Bad Data - Marketing EssayMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaDefinition of Export QuotasBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementOpen Architechture a white paperRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanPETSTEL analysis of IndiaResearch Process Part OneThe Project Managment Office System

Normans - Medieval Viking Rulers in France and England

Normans - Medieval Viking Rulers in France and England The Normans (from the Latin Normanni and Old Norse for north men) were ethnic Scandinavian Vikings who settled in northwest France in the early 9th century AD. They controlled the region known as Normandy until the mid 13th century. In 1066, the most famous of the Normans, William the Conqueror, invaded England and conquered the resident Anglo-Saxons; after William, several kings of England including Henry I and II and Richard the Lionheart were Normans and ruled both regions. Dukes of Normandy Rollo the Walker 860-932, ruled Normandy 911-928, married Gisla (daughter of Charles the Simple)William Longsword  ruled 928-942Richard I (the Fearless), born 933, ruled 942-996 married Hugh the Greats daughter Emma, then GunnorRichard II (The Good) ruled 996-1026 married JudithRichard III ruled 1026-1027Robert I (The Magnificent, or The Devil) ruled 1027-1035 (Richard IIIs brother) William the Conquerer, 1027-1087, ruled 1035-1087, also King of England after 1066, married Matilda of Flanders Robert II (Curthose), ruled Normandy 1087-1106 Henry I (Beauclerc) b. 1068, King of England 1100-1135 Henry II b. 1133, ruled England 1154-1189 Richard the Lionheart also King of England 1189-1216John Lackland Vikings in France By the 830s, the Vikings arrived from Denmark and began raiding in what is today France, finding the standing Carolingian government in the midst of an ongoing civil war. The Vikings were only one of several groups who found the weakness of the Carolingian empire an attractive target. The Vikings used the same tactics in France as they did in England: plundering the monasteries, markets and towns; imposing tribute or Danegeld on the people they conquered; and killing the bishops, disrupting ecclesiastical life and causing a sharp decline in literacy. The Vikings became permanent settlers with the express collusion of Frances rulers, although many of the grants were simply a recognition of de facto Viking control of the region. Temporary settlements were first established along the Mediterranean coast from a series of royal grants from Frisia to the Danish Vikings: the first was in 826, when Louis the Pious granted Harald Klak the county of Rustringen to use as a retreat. Subsequent rulers did the same, usually with the aim of putting one Viking in place to defend the Frisian coast against others. A Viking army first wintered on the Seine river in 851, and there joined forces with the kings enemies, the Bretons, and Pippin II. Founding Normandy: Rollo the Walker The duchy of Normandy was founded by Rollo (Hrolfr) the Walker, a Viking leader in the early 10th century. In 911, the Carolingian king Charles the Bald ceded land including the lower Seine valley to Rollo, in the Treaty of St Clair sur Epte. That land was extended to include what is today all of Normandy by AD 933 when the French King Ralph granted the land of the Bretons to Rollos son William Longsword. The Viking court based at Rouen was always a little shaky, but Rollo and his son William Longsword did their best to shore up the duchy by marrying into the Frankish elite. There were crises in the duchy in the 940s and 960s, particularly when William Longsword died in 942 when his son Richard I was only 9 or 10. There were fights among the Normans, particularly between pagan and Christian groups. Rouen continued as a subordinate to the Frankish kings until the Norman War of 960-966, when Richard I fought against Theobald the Trickster. Richard defeated Theobald, and newly arrived Vikings pillaged his lands. That was the moment when Normans and Normandy became a formidable political force in Europe. William the Conquerer The 7th Duke of Normandy was William, the son Robert I, succeeding to the ducal throne in 1035. William married a cousin, Matilda of Flanders, and to appease the church for doing that, he built two abbeys and a castle in Caen. By 1060, he was using that to build a new power base in Lower Normandy, and that is where he began amassing for the Norman Conquest of England. You can find lots more about William the Conquerer and the Battle of Hastings elsewhere. Ethnicity and the Normans Archaeological evidence for the Viking presence in France is notoriously slim. Their villages were basically fortified settlements, consisting of earthwork-protected sites called motte (en-ditched mound) and bailey (courtyard) castles, not that different from other such villages in France and England at that time. The reason for the lack of evidence for explicit Viking presence may be that the earliest Normans tried to fit into the existing Frankish powerbase. But that didnt work well, and it was not until 960 when Rollos grandson Richard I galvanized the notion of Norman ethnicity, in part to appeal to the new allies arriving from Scandinavia. But that ethnicity was largely limited to kinship structures and place names, not material culture, and by the end of the 10th century, the Vikings had largely assimilated into the larger European medieval culture. Historic Sources Most of what we know of the early Dukes of Normandy is from Dudo of St Quentin, a historian whose patrons were Richard I and II. He painted an apocalyptic picture of Normandy in his best-known work De moribus et actis primorum normanniae ducum, written between 994-1015. Dudos text was the basis for future Norman historians including William of Jumià ¨ges (Gesta Normannorum Ducum), William of Poitiers (Gesta Willelmi), Robert of Torigni and Orderic Vitalis. Other surviving texts include the Carmen de Hastingae Proelio and the  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Sources This article is part of the About.com guide to Vikings, and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology Cross KC. 2014. Enemy and Ancestor: Viking Identities and Ethnic Boundaries in England and Normandy, c.950 – c.1015. London: University College London. Harris I. 1994. Stephen of Rouens Draco Normannicus: A Norman Epic. Sydney Studies in Society and Culture 11:112-124. Hewitt CM. 2010. The Geographic Origins of the Norman Conquerors of England. Historical Geography 38(130-144). Jervis B. 2013. Objects and social change: A case study from Saxo-Norman Southampton. In: Alberti B, Jones AM, and Pollard J, editors. Archaeology After Interpretation: Returning Materials to Archaeological Theory. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press. McNair F. 2015. The politics of being Norman in the reign of Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy (r. 942–996). Early Medieval Europe 23(3):308-328. Peltzer J. 2004. Henry II and the Norman Bishops. The English Historical Review 119(484):1202-1229. Petts D. 2015. Churches and lordship in Western Normandy AD 800-1200. In: Shepland M, and Pardo JCS, editors. Churches and Social Power in Early Medieval Europe. Brepols: Turnhout.

Stage of sleep - psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stage of sleep - psychology - Essay Example Going over the information covered in class, â€Å"Stage† 1 and â€Å"Stage† 3 read to me more like doorways to actual stages, instead of being stages themselves. The reason I felt that way was both because of the length of those two stages, and because of the way they seem designed to build up to the next stage. Neither one of them felt like they were defined individually, but were based on the stage that came after them. Stage 1 of the sleep cycle lasts only about 5-10 minutes, and was technically defined as the transition period between wakefulness and sleep. What came to my mind was the short period of grogginess people usually experience when they first wake up in the morning. They’re eyes are open, and they’re obviously not asleep any more. However, their minds and bodies haven’t fully reached alertness, so they’re not fully awake, either. That grogginess is kind of a limbo between being asleep and being awake, and I think that Stage 1 is the same thing, only going the opposite direction. Stage 3 is almost identical to Stage 1, with the only real difference being where it comes in the sleep cycle. It lasts about the same amount of time as Stage 1, and is also a transition period. Thinking of the transitional stages, particularly Stage 1, as being somewhat separate from the rest of the stages should help me get to sleep faster. One way I could to that would be to create a kind of transition period or routine before I try to get to Stage 1. Remembering that Stage 2 is where the body begins to relax and slow down—the heart beat and body temperature, specifically, go down—then Stage 1 can be thought of as designed to take us from being fully alert to being ready for a kind of light hibernation. If I were to spend some time just before going to bed listening to quiet music or reading a soothing book, I could potentially make Stage 1 of sleep easier to get in to and through. I was surprised to learn that t he stages of sleep do not follow a logical, sequential order of 1-2-3-4-5. When we first began covering the stages of sleep, that is the order I thought they would follow, and those five stages would somehow take up a person’s full night of sleeping. It would have made sense to me for some people to need each stage to last longer—meaning that they need to have more hours of sleep at night to feel rested—and others would be able to get by with shorter stages. However, what I learned was that the stages of sleep actually go a little out of order. According to an article entitled â€Å"Stages of Sleep,† the order is more like 1-2-3-4-3-2-5-2 and that order is repeated a few times every night (Cherry, 2011). Realizing that our bodies go through several cycles of the five stages of sleep throughout the night gives me some ideas for what to make my sleeping environment like. In going over the material from our class lectures, as well as reviewing the informatio n providing in the article â€Å"Stages of Sleep,† it’s apparent to me that people go through Stage 2 more times in a night than any other stage. Stage 2 is the one where the body begins to become more relaxed before going in to a deep sleep. In this stage of physiological change, people might be fairly easy to wake. So, I would take that knowledge and create an environment in my room that encourages me to stay asleep once I fall asleep. Maybe I could play some quiet music in the background that would minimize the effect of noises in the night on my subconscious. The idea

Youth Justice in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Youth Justice in the UK - Essay Example The essay "Youth Justice in the UK" discusses the following issue - the commitment to effective practice, in itself highly desirable, has frequently been accompanied by an unwarranted certainty about 'what works' allowing little space for debate. There are various factors that contribute towards explaining this statement.Every individual is unique and forms their own assumptions based on their perceptions. Many of the youth are not very clear about life and its consequences, for the main reason of being young, and their perception of life is quite different from a matured adult. Wrong perceptions snowball into various conflicts and contradictions which easily leads them towards crime. According to Laurie Mullins, â€Å"Perception is the root of all organizational behavior; any situation can be analyzed in terms of its perceptual connotations†.Another major cause for leading the youth astray is alcohol and drug abuse. The youth are not in a position to understand the dangers be hind this and are slowly sucked into a kind of trap that the find very difficult to come out of. As they go deeper, they stop at nothing to satisfy this need. They engage in robbery, petty thefts in the beginning but later on move into much bigger crimes such as extortion and murder. The modern day ‘binge drinking culture’ has spawned an acceleration of crime. While most people in the UK, drink within safety limits, but unfortunately the youth are not so serious about this.