Strategic implications of Corporate Social Responsibilities Essay

Strategic implications of Corporate Social Responsibilities - Essay Example According to Forbes (2012), involvement in CSR results in creative development and cost reduction within the organisation. An organisation, that is focusing upon sustainability will innovate and undertake methods to achieve the purpose. Such steps often result in creation of a new product that is eco-friendly and cost efficient. Forbes (2012) highlighted at least six reasons for organisations to incorporate CSR in their business activities: innovation, cost advantage, brand differentiation, long term strategic importance, customer engagement and employee engagement. Innovation, in context of CSR, can result in identification of multiple of sustainable business opportunities emerging ahead of an organisation. For instance, Unilever, as a part of its CSR towards environment, was able to develop a new hair conditioner that unlike other substitutes required less water. Once sustainability is incorporated in activities, it is obvious to witness effective utilisation of resources, efficien t consumption of energy and other non-renewable resources and increased usage of eco-friendly materials. It has been observed so far that brand differentiation has become one of the primary reasons for organisations to embrace CSR. Prominent companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi have incorporated brand differentiation in their products such as water bottles that are recyclable in nature, to enhance their brand image as sustainable organisations. In addition to brand differentiation in this interactive environment which can be achieved.

Footwear International Essay Example for Free

Footwear International Essay Footwear International is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of footwear with 83 companies in 70 countries with one of these locations is in Bangladesh, where John Carlson is the managing director. Bangladesh has had a turbulent history in the 20th century and over 85% of the population is Moslem (Thomas, 2003). An article in the Meillat, a newspaper with pro Libyan preferences, made reference to the design of the insole of a sandal included the Arabic spelling of the word â€Å"Allah† and since this design was on the insole of the sandal and next to the foot it is a sign of great disrespect to Moslems. The article also stated Footwear International was owned and operated by a Jewish family and was linked in the shootings of people in Palestine by Jews. This incident seemed to be escalating rapidly as youth groups began calling for demonstrations against Footwear, a lawyer had filed charges under the criminal code that forbade deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious believers. To make matters worse the prime minister had voiced his concerns in the matter as well. Public opinion towards Footwear International has now turned negative due to the erroneous claims published in the Melliat. The newspaper had stated that Footwear was under Jewish ownership which is untrue as the family that owned Footwear International was Christian. The design on the insole of the sandal was based on Chinese temple bells that the designer had purchased and was approved by her supervisor who was Moslem (Thomas, 2003). Numerous other people had seen the new logo during the design process and no one had made objections in regards to this logo either. How this logo incensed the Moslem community and more importantly how should Footwear International and especially John Carlson handle the allege claims against the company? It appears that Footwear International has two alternatives: one option is not to do anything and hope the problem will go away or the second option is to address the situation and resolve the conflict. The first option of not doing anything is not a very a good decision to make by Footwear International. The problem will not go away but will continue to grow until Footwear International ceases all operations in Bangladesh and with that the loss of revenue. Timing is the key in the second option and is more complicated as there are several major hurdles that John Carlson must address in a short period of time. It was indicated that two youth groups were planning on demonstrating against Footwear International. The first obstacle Carlson must be concerned with is for the safety of all his employees and their families especially the four other managers that were named in statement. He may wish to seclude the managers and their families in a safe location to protect them from the demonstrators. Carlson might request extra security personal from the corporate headquarters to ensure their safety. Religion and culture are very sensitive subjects to people of any country and due to the fact the opposition newspaper had printed false information about Footwear International, Carlson must use all types of media to set the record straight. Carlson will need to explain that Footwear International is owned and operated by individuals who are Christians and not Jewish as the newspaper article had stated. Carlson must capitalize on the company’s presence in the country that began in the 1930’s, the first manufacturing plant constructed in 1962, in 1971 the managing director was a freedom fighter, in 1985 Footwear International went public and two years later spearheaded the largest private sector foreign investment in the country and employees over 1800 Bangladesh people in 81 stores and agencies (Thomas, 2003). Carlson must be very sincere as he communicates to the different media outlets on how the design used was based on Chinese temple bells and that the designer who created this logo is Muslim as well. I believe Carlson must compare the design logo to the Arabic spelling of Allah and emphasize that the design logo was not intended to offend anyone of the Muslim society. Footwear International must review the procedures they use in the design process and new policies should be implemented going forward so this type of situation will not occur again. It is important for Carlson to admit this mistake and I think he must make a bold move and announces the recall of these sandals, this may be a costly decision, however it will the show the people he is sincere in trying to remedy the problem. Carlson must also be concerned with the legal actions that a local lawyer has filed against him and if by chance the lawyer does not rescind these charges it may be necessary for him to seek legal help from the corporate headquarters. Footwear International executives should use any means available to open up dialogue with the prime minister in hopes of him recanting his remarks. If the prime minister addresses the situation and reissues a statement supporting Footwear International attempts to correct the situation this would probably pressure the lawyer in dropping the charges. If I was in Carlson’s place I would meet this situation head on and utilize all resources at my disposable to correct this honest mistake. Mistakes happen and it is how we fix these mistakes that people judge our integrity by.

Kingdoms of Life Essay Example for Free

Kingdoms of Life Essay On our planet earth we have what are called kingdoms, 5 to be exact, consisting of a very diverse group of living things. Using these five kingdoms we classify our species and organize information on what we are and what resides with us. When we place every living creature into one of the five kingdoms it better helps us understand the world around us and its habitants. The five kingdoms include: Moneran, Protist, Fungi, Plantae, and the one we call home, Animalia. 1. Monera The simplest of all organisms is the bacteria of the Moneran kingdom. They are broken down into two types: Eubacteria and Archaebacteria. Eubacteria is known as the â€Å"true bacteria† which makes up the roughly 10,000 species in the Moneran group. Archaebacteria or ancient bacteria if you will, is the minority of the group and are only found in extreme environments including but not limiting; swamps, salt lakes, deep-ocean hydrothermal vent, etc. There are many types of species belonging to the Moneran kingdom that have yet to be discovered. Monerans are also the only group within the five kingdoms that are all prokaryotes. Prokaryotes are one-celled or colony of cells. 2. Protista In this kingdom we have multi cellular organisms (Protista) which are not a part of nor do they fit, the Animal, Plant, or Fungus Kingdom. In the beginning, protozoa were placed in a sub-kingdom of Animalia but because of the problems this classification had, it later became its own kingdom. All members of this phylum have what are known as nucleated cells and live in aquatic habitats (both freshwater and marine). According to Lynn Margulis, K.V. Schwartz and M. Dolan (1994), the cells of all Protoctista originally formed by bacterial symbioses or symbiogenesis. Members of this kingdom are not considered animals because they do not come from an embryo, they are not plants nor are they considered fungi because they do not develop from spores. 3. Fungi There are some members of the Kingdom Fungi that are associated with algal cells of the Kingdom Protista and/or prokaryotic cyanobacteria of the Kingdom Monera. Fungi plays a very critical role in natures continuous rebirth: Fungi actually recycle all dead organic matter turning it into useful nutrients. Fungi consits of species like: mushrooms, molds, mildews, stinkhorns, rusts, puffballs and many others. There are on estimate 100,000 known species today with hundreds of new species being discovered each year. 4. Plantae  With over 1.6 million species of living organisms on earth and new species discovered every single day, in particular; insects and nematodes residing in rsecluded tropical regions. However, with the present rate of destruction, a majority of the virgin tropical rain forest are headed straight for extinction, leaving millions of species undiscovered by the human race. It is the theory that approximately 99 percent of species that ever resided on earth were extinct long before the human ever set foot on this planet. Even with humans having such an incredible significance to the development of earth, technically they are considered to be newcomers on this marvelous planet. If all theories are correct, earth is aged at about 4.5 billion years old, meaning the ancient life forms (such as the cyanobacteria) appeared roughly 2-3 billion years ago. 5. Animalia There are nine phyla of this kingdom including the following: Porifera (poriferans), Cnidaria (cnidarians), Platyhelminthes (flatworms), Nematoda (roundworms), Annelida (annelids), Mollusca (molluscs), Arthropoda (arthropods), Echinodermata (echinoderms) and Chordata (chordates). Animals are considered to be part of this group because they are all multi-cellular organisms whose cells are connected by a plasma membrane and not by a cell wall of cellulose like the others. The differences between plants and animals led to the division of all life into what is known as (referenced above) Plantae and Animalia. In animals, the cells are organized into tissues and specialized tissue systems that permit them to move freely in search of food. They build energy by acquiring and ingesting their food, unlike plants, which use the system photosynthesis to benefit from the nutrients they need to survive. A well developed nervous system with sensory and motor nerves is what enables animals to receive environmental stimuli as well as a response to the environment around them. It was found that some were plant like while others (protozoa) resembled animals in that they obtain locomotion by means of flagella and that they actually digest food. The Animal Kingdom holds the most species of all of the kingdoms, ringing in a little over one million. Interesting fact, is that more than half of the animal species are insects. The result of 300,000 beetles plus the 800,000 different insect species a make up the largest order of insects (one fifth of all speciesusing a total of 1.5 million). It has been said that if the species between plants and animals on earth were lined up at random, every 5th species would be a beetle. Viruses Viruses are out of the Kingdom assortment completely and sometimes they are said even to belong to their own kingdom, the kingdom Virus. The small and less complex infectious agent is made of tiny macromolecular units composed of DNA or RNA covered by an outer protein coat. Virus do not contain membrane-bound organelles, ribosomes, a cytoplasm, or any other source of energy formation of their own. They do not have the self-maintenance metabolic reactions of living systems, they lack cellular respiration and gash exchanges. They are completely capable of reproducing but only at the expense of a host cell. They can and will only survive as minute macromolecular particles outside of their body. Plant viruses are transferred between each other by insects that feed on sap, such as aphids, while animal viruses can be carried by blood-sucking insects (mosquitos for instance). http://www.biology-questions-and-answers.com/life-kingdoms.html

Pulmonary Hypertension Syndrome in Fast-growing Broilers

Pulmonary Hypertension Syndrome in Fast-growing Broilers This study investigated variations of plasma angiotensin II and gene expression of renin, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) in the heart of pulmonary hypertensive chickens. Plasma angiotensin II was significantly increased at 28 days of age (P1R was increased at 12 and 42 days (P1R and ACE transcripts in the left ventricle of the treated group were increased at days 12 and 42 respectively compared to controls (P1R mRNAs were relatively upregulated in heart of chickens developing pulmonary hypertension while considerable reduction of renin/ACE and elevation of AT1R in right ventricle of heart may involve in dilated cardiomyopathy. Key words: Renin-angiotensin system, Pulmonary hypertension, Broiler chicken. Introduction Pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS, ascites) in fast-growing broilers is an elevated blood pressure within the pulmonary circulation (Baghbanzadeh and Decuypere, 2008). Pulmonary hypertension initiates the sequential development of hypoxemia, right-sided congestive heart failure, central venous congestion, cirrhosis of the liver, and accumulation of ascitic fluid into the abdominal cavity (Balog, 2003). It is commonly accepted that PHS in fast-growing broilers is a direct effect of right atrioventricular valve insufficiency, ventricular volume overload and right ventricular dilation and failure (Baghbanzadeh and Decuypere, 2008). In PHS, a high vascular resistance due to an anatomically inadequate pulmonary vascular capacity and excessive vascular tone reflecting an imbalance between pulmonary vasoconstrictors and vasodilators has been demonstrated (Wideman et al., 2013). Many vasoactive elements are involved in the pathophysiology of PHS such as norepinephrine, thromboxane,endothe lin, serotonin, nitric oxide, prostacyclin and angiotensin II (Teshfam et al., 2006, Hassanpour et al., 2009, Hassanpour et al., 2011, Wideman et al., 2013). Pathophysiologic alterations in the cellular and molecular levels of this syndrome have been noted (Kim and Iwao, 2000, Sato et al., 2012, Hassanpour et al., 2013a, Hassanpour et al., 2013b). Angiotensin II (Ang II) is the central active component of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) that plays a major role in regulating the cardiovascular system, and disorders of the RAS contribute largely to the pathophysiology of hypertension, renal disease and chronic heart failure (Dostal and Baker, 1999). This system is an ever-evolving endocrine system with considerable checks and balances on the production and catabolism of angiotensin peptides most likely due to the manifold effects of angiotensin (Putnam et al., 2012). In the RAS, a precursor peptide, angiotensinogen, is cleaved by renin to form the decapeptide angiotensin I. The dipeptidase angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) cleaves angiotensin I to form the octapeptide angiotensin II (Levy, 2004). Ang II, through the activation of specific Ang II types 1 and 2 receptors (AT1R; AT2R), regulates cardiac contractility, cell communication, and impulse propagation. In addition, Ang II is involved in cardiac remodeling, gro wth, and apoptosis (Paul et al., 2006, Ferreira et al., 2008). The concept of a local RAS located in the heart with autocrine and paracrine roles has been confirmed in mammals by many studies, particularly with the demonstration that elements of the RAS and Ang receptors are present in cardiac tissue (De Mello and Danser, 2000). The objective of this study was to determine plasma angiotensin and the relative amounts of renin, ACE and AT1R mRNA expression in the heart ventricles (right and left) of broiler chickens with pulmonary hypertension experimentally induced by 3,5,3†²-l-triiodothyronine (T3). This hormone increases metabolism via increasing number and size of mitochondria and stimulation of the cell membrane enzyme Na+-K+ ATPase), thus, increases oxygen consumption and requirement (Griffin and Ojeda, 2000). The increased body demand for oxygen prompts an increase in cardiac output. High cardiac output triggers an increase in lung arterial pressure, presumably because of the low compliance of the pulmonary vasculature (Balog, 2003). Materials and methods Birds and treatments A total of 60 One-day old male Ross 308 broiler chickens were assigned to a control or treatment group (30 birds per group). Each group was randomly divided into three equal replicates of 10 chickens per pen. The chickens were reared for seven weeks on wood shavings under standard conditions and provided ad libitum access to water and a standard ration (Starter: 12.6 MJ metabolisable energy (ME)/kg of diet, 230 g/kg crude protein (CP), Grower: 13.2 MJ ME/kg of diet, 210 g/kg CP, Finisher: 13.4 MJ ME/kg of diet, 190 g/kg CP formulated) to meet requirements for broilers . In the treatment group, T3 was included in the basal diets at a concentration of 1.5 mg T3/kg after day 6 of rearing period (Hassanpour et al., 2013a). Throughout the study mortality was recorded daily. Those broilers that died during the experimental period were examined for lesions of heart failure and ascites. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Ahvaz and Shahrekord Universities approved all procedures used in this study. Assessment of right ventricular hypertrophy At 12 and 42 d of age, six chickens from each group were selected at random, weighed and killed by decapitation. The heart was resected and right ventricle hypertrophy was estimated as described by Teshfam et al. (2006). The ratio of right ventricle to total ventricle (RV/TV) was calculated as an index of pulmonary hypertension. Chickens with an RV/TV ratio >0.28 were classified as pulmonary hypertensive chickens (Wideman, 2001). The right and left ventricles of the heart were immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -70 °C for subsequent RNA analysis. RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis In this experiment, frozen ventricular tissues which had been prepared in the aseptic condition, were homogenized in a liquid nitrogen bath. Total RNA from right (six samples from each group at 12 and 42 days) and left ventricles (six samples from each group at 12 and 42 days) was extracted by a guanidine / phenol solution (RNx plus, Sinaclon Bioscience, Karaj, Iran). 100 mg of homogenized tissue was prepared in this solution. The homogenate was then mixed with chloroform. The resulting mixture was centrifuged (9000 rpm, 4 °C, 15 min), yielding an upper aqueous phase containing total RNA. Following 100% isopropanol precipitation, the RNA pellet was washed with 75% ethanol. The RNA samples were resuspended in DEPC-treated water. Total RNA was treated with RNase-free DNase (Sinaclon Bioscience, Karaj, Iran) to avoid amplification of contaminating genomic DNA. RNA was evaluated by agarose gel (1.5%) electrophoresis to determine extracted RNA quality as indicated by discrete 18S and 28 S rRNA bands. The amount and quality of RNA were determined by spectrophotometry. Only RNA of sufficient purity, having an absorbance ratio (A260/280) greater than 1.9, was considered for synthesis of cDNA. Total RNA was reverse transcribed into cDNA in a short time after extraction (less than 6 hours) using M-MLV reverse transcriptase (Sinaclon Bioscience, Karaj, Iran) as described by Hassanpour et al. (2010). The reverse-transcription (RT) was done in a 20  µl volume containing 2  µg of extracted RNA, 200 ng random hexamer, 0.5 mM dNTP. This mixture was heated to 65 °C for 5 min, and 40 u of RNase inhibitor, RT buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, 75 mM KCl, 3 mM MgCl2), 10 mM DTT and 200 u M-MLV reverse transcriptase were added. This mixture was incubated for 5 min at 25 °C, followed by 50 min at 38 °C. The reverse transcription mix was heated to 75 °C for 15 min to denature the RNA and then stored at -20 °C. Quantitative real time PCR Analysis In this study, relative quantification of real time PCR was used to measure changes in a gene expression in response to T3 treatment. The levels of renin, AT1R, ACE and ÃŽ ²-actin transcripts were determined in the six samples of right and left ventricles from each group at 12 and 42 days by real-time reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR using Eva-Green chemistry (Sinaclon Bioscience, Karaj, Iran). This method requires a suitable internal standard to control for variability between samples and to normalise the input load of cDNA. ÃŽ ²-actin was used as an internal standard. Specific primers of Renin, AT1R, ACE and ÃŽ ²-actin were designed with Primer-Blast (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/tools/primer blast/index.cgi?LINK_LOC=blastHome). The expected products of primers in PCR were checked in Nucleotide-Blast (www.blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi?PROGRAM=blastnPAGE_TYPE=BlastSearchLINK_LOC=blasthome) which found no similarity with other chicken genes. Primers are listed in Table 1. PCRs were carried out in a real-time PCR cycler (Rotor Gene Q 6000, Qiagen, USA) in three replicates for each sample of ventricles. 1  µl cDNA was added to 4  µl Titan Hot Taq Eva-Green Ready Mix (Sinaclon Bioscience, Iran), 0.5  µM of each specific primer in a total volume of 20  µl. The thermal profile was 95 °C for 5 min, 35 cycles of 95 °C for 40 s, 60 °C for 35 s and 72 °C for 30 s. At the end of each phase, fluorescence was assessed by the real-time PCR cycler and used for quantitative objectives. The no-template control and no-reverse transcriptase control were used to check contamination in the PCR reagents. Gene expression data were normalized to ÃŽ ²-actin. Data were analyzed using Rotor Gene-software, version 2.0.2 (build 4) (Qiagen, USA) and LinRegPCR software version 2012.0 (Amsterdam, Netherland), to give the threshold cycle number and reaction efficiency (Ruijter et al., 2009). Relative transcript levels and fold changes in transcript abundance were calculated using eff iciency adjusted Livak methodology (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  CT method) (Livak and Schmittgen, (2001). Measurement of angiotensin II in plasma The six chickens per group at 12, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days were selected for blood collection. Blood samples were collected from the brachial vein in heparinized syringes and centrifuged at 2,500g for 10 min to obtain plasma. The total amount of Ang II plasma level was quantified by using a commercially available Ang II-EIA kit (catalog No.: S-1133, Bachem Chemical Company, Germany) following the manufacturers instructions. Plasma proteins was precipitated as follows before the use of this kit. Briefly, 1 mL plasma was mixed with 2 mL acetone and centrifuged (10000 rpm, 4 ºC, 10 min). The supernatant was extracted with 4 mL petroleum benzine and left at room for 30 min. After discarding the ether phase, the aqueous, lower phase containing the angiotensin was evaporated to dryness at 40 ºC. The dried extracts were redissolved in 0.25 mL assay buffer (0.1 M Tris-HCl, (pH=7.4), 3 mg/mL bovine serum albumin and 2 mg/mL neomycin sulfate) and stored at -20 ºC prior to assay (Gray and S imon, 1985). The materials for protein precipitation were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co. The Ang II-EIA kit is an in vitro quantitative assay for detecting the angiotensin II peptide based on the principle of a competitive enzyme immunoassay (competitive binding to the Ang II antibody between biotinylated Ang II peptide and peptides in samples). This kit has intra-assay variation Statistical analysis Data are represented as mean  ± SE. Comparisons were made using an independent sample t-test between each treatment and its control. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS-16 software (SPSS Institute Inc.). All data were checked to have a normal distribution and log transformed if necessary. Any data requiring log transformation were back-transformed for presentation of data. P values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results Estimation of right ventricular hypertrophy The RV/TV ratio was greater in the treated groups at 42 days of age (0.303  ± 0.021) than controls (0.215  ± 0.017) (P=0.004), while this ratio was not significant at 12 days (control: 0.154  ± 0.014; treatment: 0.171  ± 0.012) (P=0.091). The increase of RV/TV ratio was 29% at 42 days. The clinical signs of ascites was observable in the most treated chickens at the end of rearing period. Expression of renin, AT1R and ACE genes in the right and left ventricles Real-time PCR results of renin, ACE and AT1R genes are shown in Figs. 1–3. The expression of ÃŽ ²-actin was detected in all samples. The renin, AT1R and ACE genes were expressed in the right and left ventricles of control and T3-treated broilers at 12 and 42 days of age. The relative amount of renin mRNA expression in the right ventricle of the treated groups was significantly increased at 12 days (15.5 fold) (P=0.009) and decreased at 42 days (4 fold) of age compared to controls (P=0.012; Fig. 1). The relative amount of ACE mRNA expression in the left ventricle of the treated group was significantly increased (9 fold) at 42 days of age compared to controls (P=0.008), but did not differ at 12 days of age (Fig. 2). In the right ventricle, the expression of this gene was increased (2.9 fold) at 12 days (P=0.031) while decreased (3 fold) at 42 days of age in the treated group compared to control (P=0.024). The relative amount of AT1R mRNA expression in the right ventricle of the treated group was significantly increased at 12 (5.9 fold) (P=0.036) and 42 (3.7 fold) (P=0.044) days of age compared to control. In the left ventricle of the treated group, the mRNA amount of this gene was only higher (3.9 fold) at 12 days of age than control (P=0.043; Fig. 3). Assessment of plasma angiotensin II The level of Ang II was measured in plasma samples of chickens at 12, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days of age. The amount of Ang II was significantly increased in T3-treated chickens only at 28 days of age when compared with control (P=0.041; Fig. 4). In this study, total mortality was 23.3% for treatment group and 3.3% for control group. Discussion In the present study, the effect of T3 hormone was observed at 42 days of age which increased cardiac index (i.e., RV/TV > 0.28). According to Wideman (2001), this high cardiac index is associated with sustained pulmonary hypertension (significant high blood pressure of pulmonary artery and right ventricle). In T3-treated chickens of our experiment, cardiac index was not critically high to be noticed as pulmonary hypertension at 12 days of age. Thus, any alterations in cardiac RAS gene expression at this age were not related to this syndrome (Klein and Danzi, 2007, Vargas et al., 2012). Ang II, apart from its effect of elevating arterial pressure, exerts mitogenic and growth promoting effects on cardiac myocytes; both of these effects contribute to the development congestive heart failure (Varagic and Frohlich, 2002). In our experiment, the amount of plasma Ang II considerably was higher at 28 days of age and so at this time of rearing period could be critical in the incidence of PHS , as previously suggested by Hassanpour et al. (2011). However, our data showed that Ang II may be involved as an important factor in the induction of PHS, but its role in the development of this syndrome and heart dilation is not predominant, versus PHS in mammals (Wollert and Drexler, 1999). It must be noticed that hyperthyroidism increases degradation of proteins far exceed synthesis (Decuypere et al., 2005). Thus, variation of Ang II amount during rearing period of chickens could be affected by excess T3. At 42 days of age, cardiac index was considerably high to cause heart failure and PHS. It is noticed that this stage could be associated with heart dilation, which may differ cardiomyocytes structurally and functionally from hypertrophic stage (Lowes et al., 2002, Hassanpour et al., 2013a). Thus, alternations in the expression of mentioned genes in the heart ventricles, particularly in the right ventricle, which was more affected by PHS than the left ventricle, could be due to dilated cardiomyopathy. Renin mRNA has been detected in the heart of various species (Paul et al., 2006). Pieruzzi et al. (1995) described that volume overload of heart was able to increase renin mRNA in the rat heart. In contrast, Iwai et al. (1995) were unable to confirm these findings. In the present study, mRNA variations of this gene were not considerable in the left ventricle of the treated chickens while in the right ventricle, conspicuous increase (12 days) and decrease (42 days) were observed. The initial increase of renin mRNA may be influenced by volume overload of heart due to thyroid hormone while consequent decrease of this gene could be due to occurrence of the PHS. As previously mentioned, the end stage of PHS could be associated with dilated cardiomyopathy of the right ventricle in which cardiomyocytes are unable to contract properly. Apparently, this disability occurs in the expression of many genes (Ladenson et al., 1992, Lowes et al., 2002, Teshfam et al., 2006, Hassanpour et al., 2013b) . A reduction of renin mRNA in the right ventricle may be due to negative compensatory feedback of cardiomycytes against high activation of systemic RAS (high plasma Ang II). It may be also noticed that T3 initially stimulates expression of genes (such as renin) and then, suppresses transcription in long time, similar to its effect on protein (Ruckebusch et al., 1991). Further, the elevation of ACE mRNA might be influenced by thyroid hormone and initial induction of hypertrophy in the heart ventricles, while the reduction of this transcript occurred in the dilated right ventricle at the end stage of PHS. Hao et al. (2013) reported an increase of ACE mRNA and concentration of Ang II in the right ventricular tissue of cold stress-chickens at 42 days of age. This apparent discrepancy between our results and study of Hao et al. (2013) could be due to different routes in the induction of PHS. Comparison of cardiac index in these two studies confirms that induction of PHS with T3 was more severe than cold stress. Probably, the right ventricular remodeling in the cold stress-chickens was not completely progressed. Thus, it could be logical reason for increasing of ACE mRNA and Ang II in the hypertrophic right ventricle. The increasing of AT1R in the heart hypertrophy and heart failure has been confirmed (Barlucchi et al., 2001, Diniz et al., 2007) which is in relative agreement with our findings. Wollert and Drexler (1999) reviewed that AT-receptors-dependent signaling cascades potently modulate cardiac myocyte function and growth. They also reported that cardiac hypertrophy in response to haemodynamic overload can occur independently of the AT-receptors. In conclusion, the gene expression of renin, ACE and AT1R was relatively upregulated in the heart of chickens developing PHS. The right ventricle of hearts from pulmonary hypertensive chickens showed considerable reduction of renin, ACE and elevation of AT1R which may be involved in dilated cardiomyopathy.

Spiritual Views in Emersons The Poet Essay -- Emerson Poet Essays

Spiritual Views in Emerson's The Poet Transcendental, and therefore pantheist, views run fluidly throughout Emerson's texts, especially as he attempts to define his image of the perfect poet in his essay, The Poet. He continually uses religious terms to express his feelings, but warps these terms to fit his own unique spirituality. This technique somewhat helps to define his specific religious views which mirror the view of transcendentalism and pantheism. Emerson's ideal poet is a pantheist who can express the symbols of the world through words. Emerson begins the essay by explaining that many people are taught "rules and particulars" to decide what is good art, and therefore deem themselves worthy critics although they have no feeling for art in their soul. He states that intellectual men, perhaps the cold Unitarians from which he broke away, theologians, and modern 'poets' do not acknowledge a relationship between the physical world and the mind and then praises the "highest minds" (such as Swedenborg, Plato and Heraclitus) who instead examine everything to its fullest manifold meaning. I find it interesting that in the lines "We were put into our bodies, as fire is put into a pan" and we are "but children of the fire, made of it, and only the same divinity transmuted, and at two or three removes, when we know least about it" that Emerson compares human souls to fire. Heraclitus believed that fire was the essence of everything, similar to Anaximander's concept of 'apeiron.' Emerson here shows his pantheistic view that we have all come from the same divine 'stuff,' and being "two or three removes" away from its Godly source, we are unable on a basic level to fully comprehend it. This is also remin... ...his ideal poet, and in doing shows that he feels the "poet is representative," both in using words as representative symbols and as a representative of life itself. The ideal poet becomes a portrait of a man incredibly close to nature, and therefore close to Emerson's view of God. The poet is a spiritual man who transcends our man made reality through introspection into the abyss of 'God's Reality,' bringing back with him carefully sculpted words for man-kind's consumption in an effort to help man-kind better understand life and the world in which it is lived. Works Cited Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "The Poet." The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. 1. Third Ed. Paul Lauter, et al., eds. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 1646-1661. The Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ed. Brooks Atkinson. New York: Modern Library, 1950. Spiritual Views in Emerson's The Poet Essay -- Emerson Poet Essays Spiritual Views in Emerson's The Poet Transcendental, and therefore pantheist, views run fluidly throughout Emerson's texts, especially as he attempts to define his image of the perfect poet in his essay, The Poet. He continually uses religious terms to express his feelings, but warps these terms to fit his own unique spirituality. This technique somewhat helps to define his specific religious views which mirror the view of transcendentalism and pantheism. Emerson's ideal poet is a pantheist who can express the symbols of the world through words. Emerson begins the essay by explaining that many people are taught "rules and particulars" to decide what is good art, and therefore deem themselves worthy critics although they have no feeling for art in their soul. He states that intellectual men, perhaps the cold Unitarians from which he broke away, theologians, and modern 'poets' do not acknowledge a relationship between the physical world and the mind and then praises the "highest minds" (such as Swedenborg, Plato and Heraclitus) who instead examine everything to its fullest manifold meaning. I find it interesting that in the lines "We were put into our bodies, as fire is put into a pan" and we are "but children of the fire, made of it, and only the same divinity transmuted, and at two or three removes, when we know least about it" that Emerson compares human souls to fire. Heraclitus believed that fire was the essence of everything, similar to Anaximander's concept of 'apeiron.' Emerson here shows his pantheistic view that we have all come from the same divine 'stuff,' and being "two or three removes" away from its Godly source, we are unable on a basic level to fully comprehend it. This is also remin... ...his ideal poet, and in doing shows that he feels the "poet is representative," both in using words as representative symbols and as a representative of life itself. The ideal poet becomes a portrait of a man incredibly close to nature, and therefore close to Emerson's view of God. The poet is a spiritual man who transcends our man made reality through introspection into the abyss of 'God's Reality,' bringing back with him carefully sculpted words for man-kind's consumption in an effort to help man-kind better understand life and the world in which it is lived. Works Cited Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "The Poet." The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Vol. 1. Third Ed. Paul Lauter, et al., eds. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. 1646-1661. The Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ed. Brooks Atkinson. New York: Modern Library, 1950.

Gluttony in Doctor Faustus Essay -- Doctor Faustus Essays

Gluttony in Doctor Faustus    Doctor Faustus is a scholar who questions all knowledge and finds it lacking.   Because none of his learning will allow him to transcend his mortal condition, he rejects God and forms a pact with Lucifer all the while pursuing the arts of black magic.   Of course, this is one more propaganda piece of Western Christianity attempting to argue that knowledge is dangerous and confining instead of rewarding and liberating.   It also suggests a Protestant parallel in its representation that one who believes in everything ends up believing in nothing.   However, if we cast aside its use as a socio-economic, ideological tool of manipulation, we can explore its character, action and themes without suffering too much offense as open-minded scholars.   In a play of five acts, twenty scenes and more than 70 pages of typed text, Gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins, consumes a mere 13 lines.   While such economy of space and expression is atypical of Gluttony, it is not typical of Marlowe who surfeits our senses with images of gluttonous, swollen, and surfeited allusions.   In fact, Faustus appears to be a fathead because his head has become swollen in self-conceit due to his attempt to understand more than it is within the power of humans to know.   According to Marlowe (23-24), "Till swoll'n with cunning, of a self-conceit,/His waxen wings did mount above his reach/And melting, heavens conspired his overthrow!/For falling to a devlish exercise/And glutted now with learning's golden gifts/He surfeits upon cursed necromancy/Nothing so sweet as magic is to him/Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss-/And this the man that in his study sits." Gluttony, personified, only has two dialogue exchanges with Faus... ...demption. WORKS   CITED Fitzhenry, R. I.   Barnes & Noble Book of Quotations.   New York, Barnes & Noble Books, 1986. Marlowe, C.   Doctor Faustus.   Barnet, S. (ed.) New York, Signet Classics, 1969. The student may wish to begin the essay with several of the following quotes: Puritanism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy.  H. L. Mencken Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it.  George Bernard Shaw Men prefer to believe that they are degenerated angels, rather than elevated apes.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   W. Winwood Roade As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague interests.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charles Darwin God is dead.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   F. Neitzsche When a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life.   Sigmund Freud   (Barnes & Noble Book of Quotations, 310-312)

A Comparison of Christians and Buddhists Essay -- comparison compare c

Christians Live for Today, Buddhists Live for Tomorrow    Death is perhaps the most difficult aspect of life humans are forced to deal with. In order to help us cope, we have implemented the grieving process--a series of events with the purpose of making death easier to deal with--into our lives. Not everyone handles death in the same fashion, and each culture has rituals characteristic to itself that may differ greatly from another culture's rituals. Christianity and Buddhism are two religions that have completely different grieving processes, and in a conversation with Ms. Sit-Sen Wong, a Buddhist from Malaysia, this idea was confirmed as a fact. Through life, Buddhists constantly prepare for death and the afterlife, while Christians, although concerned about that, focus on enjoying the present life as much as possible. Many factors have contributed to this deduction and all are based on the differences in the grieving process rituals between American Christians and Malaysian Buddhists.    Until someone close to us passes away, we forget just how important every minute is that we have. Life is short, therefore, it is necessary not to spend too much time on any one thing. The amount of time spent mourning in America is considerably less than that spent in Malaysia. For example, the funeral and burial, the final outward phases of grieving, takes place, on average, a week after the death of the individual. The Buddhists, however, pray for the soul of the individual every day for six entire weeks. While the Christian view is to grieve, but quickly continue with one's life, the Buddhists feel that they cannot continue until the prayer process is complete. While a Christian may continue to pr... ... during the service, as the Buddhists focus entirely on prayer.    It is evident that the grieving process for Buddhists is far more structured than that for Christians. This is because the family and friends of the deceased are the main concern and the soul of the individual is not. The funeral service helps to reassure everyone that the soul is going to heaven, and that we will all meet again. There is much comfort found in this that allows Christians to carry on, focusing on this life to reserve their spots in heaven. The Buddhists, however, are certain that the soul will be reincarnated, so it is extremely important to ensure its safe journey. The focus is placed on prayer for the soul, as what one did in life makes little difference in the end. It is because of these factors that the Christians live for today, the Buddhists live for tomorrow.