Anxiolytic Properties of L- Theanine in Albino Rats

Anxiolytic Properties of L- Theanine in Albino Rats Lakshmi Girija, Kiruthika, Arvind, Zaved Ahmed khan ABSTRACT Anxiety is an unpleasant feeling of nervousness, uneasiness accompanied by stress for anticipated events. Stressful conditions can increase anxiety many folds showing physically noticeable symptoms and drastically affecting cognitive ability. Several anxiolytic drugs are in the market whose continuous consumption may lead to problems in the long run. It is reported that L-Theanine, anamino acid analogue that was discovered as a constituent ingreen tea, has anxiolytic abilities. As L-theanine is an analogue of glutamate and glutamine, it is absorbed in the small intestine after oral digestion. It can cross theblood–brain barrier, and thereby directly register pharmacological effects. As it is able to cross theblood–brain barrier, psychoactiveproperties are reported for theanine. Many studies have revealed about its potential ability to reduce mental and physical stress. It can give better cognition and improve mood and cognitive performance. Diazepam is acommercially ava ilable benzodiazepine drug, used to treat a wide range of conditions,   including anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, seizures etc. In this paper, the anxiolytic properties of L- theanine was studies in the albino rats taking diazepam as a positive drug for anxiety. Poly lactide nano particle encapsulate theanine was also tested to see if it could cross the blood brain barrier more rapidly to reduce anxiety. Theanine proved to be an efficient anxiolytic drug equivalent to diazepam as it improved the performances of anxiety induced rats to match with that of the rats that were non anxious. Keywords:Theanine, anxiety, Diazepam,stress. Introduction Nowadays anxiety or stress have became one of the common important problem faced by the world today. Owing to busy schedule and workloads people are not able to stay calm and so the demand for anti-anxiety drugs are gaining importance. Most commonly used drugs include alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam and oxazepam. But all these drugs are not safe in the long run and hence there is a need for a good alternative. L-theanine, an aminoacid analogue of proteogenicaminoacids, L- glutamate and L- glutamine has found to have certain anti- stress effect properties. It was discovered as a constituent of green tea. Since it has multiple roles in the central and autonomous nervous system, it is receiving more attention. It was found that administration of L- theanine increases the alpha brain activity, depicting that L-theanine could render an alert and relaxed state [1,2].It was also found that stress can be reduced by inhibiting cortical neuron excitation [3].Stress can raise the blood pressure thereby activating the nervous system for producing large amounts of vasoconstricting hormones that will elevate blood pressure [4,5], L-theanine was able to reduce the blood pressure Various studies in animals revealed that L-theanine had an effect on serotonin and dopamine concentrations in the brain, anxiolytic effect [6,7]. Kimura (2007) reported that intake of L- theanine have reduced heart rate and salivary immunoglobulin production. In hypertensive rats L-theanine have found role in reducing blood pressure [8,9].. Hence, it can be hypothesized that L-theanine attenuates the stress responses in the autonomic nervous system induced by both physically and psychologically stressful tasks. Diazepam is one of the common benzodiazepine drug used for reducing anxiety. It reacts with the chemicals in the brain that causes anxiety. It also used for alcohol withdrawal symptoms. With other medications, diazepam is used to treat seizures. It helps to control symptoms of anxiety, so the people feel less agitated and less tense. It have sedative and an anticonvulsant properties. It can help relieve to muscle spasm. Diazepam should be used for the shortest period of time possible as it will cause tolerance, dependence and also sometimes withdrawal symptoms in some people. In this paper, the effect of theanine was tested in the albino mice taking diazepam as a positive drug for anxiety and then testing of theanine encapsulated with nanoparticle was done to check whether the drug crossed the blood brain barrier. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All animals used for this experiment were approved by the ethical committee for animals of VIT University. Animals subjects All rats used in the experiment were female albino Wistar from VIT animal house. The animals were in the age group of 6-8 months. The separated groups were kept in separate cages with 3 rats in each cage and were fed with food pellets and purified water from VIT animal house facility. All rats were healthy and free of any physical deformity or possible symptoms of any infection. The mean weights of the rats were 270  ±10 grams. Grouping of the rats for the experiment: The rats were divided into 5 groups with 3 rats per group for the experimental design. The details of the groups are as follows. Groups (Three rats/group) Induction of anxiety: Restrain stress model was used to induce anxiety into rats. All rats except the negative control group were induced with anxiety continuously for 5 days. The rats were locked and immobilised in the restrain stress chamber inside a silent dark room for 1 h each day for 5 consecutive days to induce anxiety. No animals were injured or handled harshly in the process. Each group of rats were subjected to the process at the same time each day and were then caged together in their respective group cages. Administration of drug: The drug was administered orally through eleven G syringe. Drug of 10 mg/ Kg of body weight was dissolved in 10 mL of distilled water and were fed orally to the rats. Tests performed: Open field test and elevated plus maze test was performed for each rat in every group for 3 consecutive days and the performance readings were recorded for each rat and represented separately in the group performance table to be compared with other groups to determine the relative anxiety levels of different groups in the experimental model. Open field test: The rats were introduced one at a time into the centre of the open field setup that consisted of 16 squares and a total accessible area of 1.6 sq m. The ambiance was maintained silent and was well lit with lights for ensuring visibility. Each rat was allowed to spend 10 mins inside the setup and the total number of square movements, fecal boli and rearings were recorded for the entire period of time spent inside the setup. Elevated plus maze test: The rats were introduced one at a time into the centre of the elevated plus maze setup elevated to 50 cm above ground that had an open arm of length 60 cm and a closed arm of length 60 cm with the total accessible area of 2.4 sq m. The ambiance was maintained silent and was well lit with lights for ensuring visibility. Each rat was allowed to spend 5 mins inside the setup and the total number of open arm entries, closed arm entries, total time spent in open arm and total time spent in closed arm were recorded for the entire period of time spent inside the setup. Results: The observations of the open field test and elevated plus maze test for all the groups of experimental rats are as follows. Group details Open field test: Parameters tested in open field test were No. of squares crossed No. of fecal boli No. of rearings Table 1 to 5 show the raw data of observation for the 5 groups for the open field test. Table1: Group I observation for OFT Table 2: Group II observations for OFT Table 3 : Group III observations for OFT Table 4: Group IV observations for OFT Table 5: Group V observations for OFT Determining the level of anxiety: Number of squares crossed: The mean value of squares crossed by the rats in each group is depicted in fig 1. As expected rats with no induced anxiety were able to show high movement by crossing a mean of 62.4 squares in 10 mins and rats induced with anxiety but not administered with any anxiolytic drug showed the least movement by crossing a mean of only 14.6 squares in 10 mins. The group administered with theanine as the anxiolytic drug out preformed as compared to the group administered with diazepam by crossing a mean of 48.4 squares in 10 mins showing reduced level of anxiety. The nano particle formulation does not show significant improvement in the performance as compared to theanine administered alone. Number of fecal boli: Fig 2. Shows the anxiety level of the different groups having fecal boli as the parameter for measuring anxiety. Maximum number of fecal boli was observed in group II where the rats were induced with anxiety but was not administered with any drug. Non anxiety induced rats in group I had the least number of fecal boli recording of 2. Theanine seems to be effective than diazepam in this test. Fecal boli is reduced by a mean of 0.11 as compared to the rats administered with diazepam. Nano formulation administered rats show increased fecal boli behaviour as compared to rats administered with diazepam or theanine. Number of rearings: Mean number of rearing behaviour for the 5 groups are shown in fig 3. Group I rats that were expected to show the least number of rearings showed rearing behaviour more than the test groups. Group II rats showed the maximum mean number of rearings fo 32.2 in 10 mins in the open field setup. Theanine and nano particle formulation of theanine reduced the rearing behaviour as compared to diazepam proving their efficiency as anxiolytic drug. The effect of normal drug and nano particle formulation were almost equal and nano formulation seems to show no improvement in crossing the blood brain barriers. These results from open field test confirms that the restrain stress model is effective in inducing anxiety in rats and the test drug theanine performs better than diazepam that is now being commertially used to treat anxiety. Elevated plus maze test: The parameters tested in the elevated plus maze test were No. of entries to open arm No. of entries to closed arm Time spent in open arm Time spent in closed arm Tables 6- 10 show the raw data collected for each group of rats in the elevated plus maze test. Table 6: Group I observations for elevated plus maze test Table 7: Group II observations for elevated plus maze test Table 8: Group III observations for elevated plus maze test Table 9: Group IV observations for elevated plus maze test Table 10: Group V observations for elevated plus maze test Number of open arm entries: Mean number of open arm entries by the 5 groups of rats in elevated plus maze test are depicted in fig4. Group I rats with no induced anxiety showed the maximum mean open arm entries of 13.4 times in 5 mins. The least number of open arm entries were observed in group II rats that were induced with anxiety but not administered with any drug. Diazepam was more effective in reducing the anxiety as the mean open arm entry for rats administered with it was 11.5 as compared to only 9.1 and 9.0 for rats administered with theanine and nano formulation of theanine respectively. Number of closed arm entries: The mean number of closed arm entries for the groups of rats are shown in fig 5. Number of closed arm entries were recorded maximum for group I rats without anxiety, these rats were very active in entering both the arms yet they spent most of the time in open arm chamber. Group II rats had least closed arm entries but they tend to spend more time without movement inside the closed arm showing high level of anxiety. Mean number of closed arm entries for the rats administered with diazepam was found to be 5.4 and the mean closed arm entries for rats administered with theanine and its nano formulation were found to be 6.1 and 3.4 respectively making the observations inconclusive without its correlation with the time spent in the closed arm for each group. Total time spent in open arm: The mean time spent in the open arm by each group of rats in the elevated plus maze setup is shown in fig 6. Rats belonging to group II that were induced with anxiety but were not administered with any drug spent the least time in open arm proving increased level of anxiety. Rats with induced anxiety and administered with diazepam, theanine or nano formulation of theanine spent mean time of 2.96, 2.7 and 2.93 mins in the open arm respectively. These are higher than 2.5 mins of time spent by group I rats that were not induced with anxiety. This proves that level of diazepam and theanine administered were able to reduce anxiety and also improve the performance of the test rats more than the control group in this test. Total time spent in closed arm: Mean time spent by different groups of rats in the closed arm of elevated plus maze setup is given in fig7. Group II rats spent the mean maximum time of 3.76 mins in the closed arm showing maximum level of anxiety as they were not administered with any anxiolytic drug. Rats administered with diazepam spent the least time in the closed arm that was about a mean value of 2.03 mins. Theanine and nano particle formulation of theanine showed no variation with respect to this parameter as both the groups administered with either one of the drug spent an equal mean time of 2.3 mins in the closed chamber. These values are lower than the time spent by the non anxious rats in group I thus making it clear that the amount of diazepam and theanine used have not only been anxiolytic but also have improved performances of the rats in the test. Relative time spent in open arm: Relative time spent in open arm for each group of rats with respect to non anxious rats were calculated and depicted in fig 8. Time spent by the non anxious rats in group I was taken to be 100 % and the time spent by the other groups were plotted relative to the group I rats. Relative time spent by the group2 rats with anxiety and no administered drug was lowest as expected. Rats administered with diazepam, theanine or its nano formulation showed 18 %, 8% and 17% high relative time respectively as compared to the non anxious rats used as control, showing the effectiveness of the drug against anxiety. Relative time spent in open arm: Relative time spent in closed arm for each group of rats with respect to non drug administered rats in group2 were calculated and depicted in fig 9. Time spent by the rats in group II that were induced with anxiety but not administered with any drug was taken to be 100% and the time spent by other groups were plotted relative to this. As expected all the other groups of rats showed lower relative time in the closed arm proving lower level of anxiety than the control group II. Rats administered with diazepam spent the least relativ

Starting a New Business Essays -- Setting Up a Business

Introduction As Regina Meyers contemplates opening a Satanic coffeehouse in her hometown, she must make a number of critical business decisions related to business organization, ownership, structure, and management. A number of her friends and family members have expressed interest in partnering with her or simply being involved. As Regina’s legal adviser, I have been asked to provide advice to her on a variety of topics outlined below. Business: Friends, Family, and Foes As an entrepreneur and business owner myself, I applaud Regina for taking the first steps towards establishing her business - a Satanic coffeehouse – while also respectfully providing advice based on some of my personal lessons learned. The first, and from my perspective the most important, decision Regina must make is related to the ownership structure of her business. While respecting that Ben, her husband, is willing to make a capital investment in the business but does not desire to participate in the operation and management, Regina needs to ensure that, as a married couple, they both understand and accept the responsibilities and risks involved with starting a business. From the information presented in the background notes, I am concerned that Ben’s pledge of a financial investment in the proposed company was from personally managed funds and not jointly-managed funds. If, indeed, the financial support pledged was from her husband’s personal funds, I would respectfully advise Regina against the accepting the investment as the marriage relationship would likely suffer by adding a non-union investor-investee financial relationship. With this noted, if Ben’s financial contribution is actually a confirmation supporting the use of their joint financial re... ...trieved from BCP Business Center: http://www.business.ftc.gov/documents/inv05-buying-franchise-consumer-guide Gaston Regional Chamber. (2013, December 2). Just starting out/business formation. Retrieved from Gaston Regional Chamber: http://gaston.toolsforbusiness.info/northcarolina/1b/formation/ North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State. (2013, December 2). Search for a corporation by name. Retrieved from Corporations Division: http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/searchresults.aspx?onlyactive=OFF&Words=STARTING&searchstr=The%20Gathering%20Place United States Patent and Trademark Office. (2013, December 2). Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS). Retrieved from United States Patent and Trademark Office: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp Wagner, E. (2013, September 12). Five reasons eight out of ten businesses fail. Forbes.com, p. 1.

Martin Luther King and Henry DavidThoreau Essay

However with different motives; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau were both admirable men that strived for a better government. As respected spokesmen they served as rebels against what they thought to be bad one’s stopping at nothing. Not even jail. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. were both brilliant men. Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Obedience† and Dr. King’s â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† are perfect examples of their intellect. Looking at these documents and observing the tactics they use while attempting to move their audience toward their ultimate goal, one can see the finesse that both men possessed. Thoreau and Dr. King lived during two different centuries. So being that they were vocalist and activist on the current issues it’s almost certain that they would have a different motive. Even though their motive was ‘poles apart’, differing in many ways, both Thoreau and Dr. King wrote with the aspiration of obtaining a new form of government presumably resembling the republican one we exercise today. Although awfully controversial, to do so both men felt nonverbal actions such as breaking the laws was the only effective way. In spite of the fact that it’s relatively ironic, they viewed going to jail in order to make a mockery of an immoral or impractical laws put in place by the government was â€Å"the very highest respect for law (King para. 5).†Henry David Thoreau motive for rebelling against the government was to make it more of a democratic one. He had no respect for the way it was being ran. His proclaimed problem basically summed up to be that he felt the government was being ran like a monarchy, or in other words by a selective few and not an entire society as it should. It simply wasn’t up to par according to his standards; for he stated this â€Å"I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government (para. 4).†Unlike Henry David Thoreau, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an African American during the times of segregation. This alone is a critical manipulating variable in the equation of why the two’s motive wasn’t the same. Dr. King was all about helping America move towards a desegregated future. He had zeal towards annihilating all unjust laws which he stated to be â€Å"a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating†¦ (para. 4),† but for the most part he had an overall respect for the government. In conclusion, it’s safe to say that other than race and motive Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. were pretty similar. They both were men of their own opinion that could be classified as moralized radicals. As spokesmen of their time they were both good at what they did. Through the form of speeches, protest, letters, and etcetera they both exemplified â€Å"Civil Disobedience (Thoreau). â€Å"Thoreau, Henry D. Civil Disobedience. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1849. 263-287. King Jr., Dr. Martin L. â€Å"Letter from Birmingham City Jail.† 16 Apr.-May 1963. Birmingham: Charles Moore, 1963. 1.

Distrigas Corporation Essay

Q1. As per the provided information the Gas Utility companies pays a base commodity charge of $. 3359 plus a peak usage demand of charge that is $4. 63 per Mcf multiplied by the total demand during the maximum take day in the last 12 months which is 240 in this case. The cost per MCF can be derived by the below formula (Commodity Base Charge * Total Demand) + (Peak Usage Demand Charge* High Peak in 1 day* months in year) This will translate into ($ 0. 3359*30,700,000 Mcf)+ ($ 4. 63*240*12) = $ 23,646,530 By substituting the appropriate values in the formula we arrive at a cost of $ 23,646,530. This cost is then divided by the total demand over 12 months of 30. 7 Bcfor 30,700,000 Mcf to arrive at an average cost per Mcf of $ 0. 7702 which is a 125% increase over the base charge $ 0. 3359. Similarly in a scenario where the peak demand is equal to the average demand of 84109. 59 Mcf we arrive at an average cost per Mcf of $ 0. 4881 which is a 45% increase over the base charge of $ 0. 3359. Q2. In order to determine the excess amount of gas that had to be bought from Distrigas we made an assumption that the demand was not normally distributed and in order to normalize it we removed the deviation of 18. 66 from the average of the independent demands over the three months to arrive at a normalized value of 178 (rounded off). The assumption is that the gas Utility companies will buy gas from Distrigas only if the demand goes aboce 178. Following this methodology the gas utility company will need to purchase 1801 MMcf from Distrigas to fulfill the peak demand. Filtering days that had excess demand we arrived at 74 days that required the Utility gas company to purchase gas from distrigas. The first phase of that purchase has to be from December 7th to 25th January and the second phase of the purchase should be from 5th February to 28th of February. The annual cost of the policy is attained by the total excess demand ( 1801 MMcf) multiplied by the cost per MMcf of $ 1660 to arrive at a cost of $ 2,989,660. By taking the average of the two cost per Mcf from question 1 we know that the cost per Mcf for regular gas supply is $ 0. 63. The amount of regular gas supply is derived by reducing the Distrigas excess demand gas supply from the total annual demand. These numbers are then used to arrive at a total cost of $ 25,248,978. 26 which results in a savings of $ 252,140 over using pipeline gas. Q. 3 Utility gains from the competitive price rate offered by Distrigas Corporation of $1. 66 per MCF when compared with the pipeline emergency gas rate of $1. 80 per MCG, which makes Distrigas price rate substantially cheaper than the pipeline gas rates. Utility is charged an excessive penalty for going above their planned gas volume by the gas providers. We can evidence this by simply comparing the prices during the peak demand, which is actually more than the average demand with the peak demand being the average demand. Calculating the Cost of Gas: Cost of Gas = (Base Commodity Charge)*(Total demand) + (12)*(4. 63)*(Peak 1 day demand) (Shown in table 1 Annual Cost Analysis) It should be an easy decision for utility to use Distrigas as its emergency gas provider when daily volume of the gas exceeds 178 MMCF (derived after taking the average of the demands for the three months and then normalized the demand variation by taking the Standard Deviation). With the given demand forecast numbers; utility will end up buying 1801MMCF of gas from Distrigas. We thought that using the concept of location pooling from risk pooling strategy would best suit this case study. We backed on this strategy because the objective of the risk pooling strategy is to redesign the supply chain and to either reduce the uncertainty the firm or to hedge uncertainty so that the firm is in a better position to lessen the consequence of uncertainty. This will convert into cheaper end consumer pricing. Location pooling is best suited for single product as it can be used to decrease the inventory while holding service constant, or increase service while holding inventory cost, or a combination of inventory reduction and service increase. However, the proposal A for Distrigas would cost only $29,376,000, or savings of $252,140. The annual cost of Distrigas policy is $21,172,397. 19. Distrigas strategy should be to maximize on its competitive rate and endeavor itself as a cost leader, promising speed delivery, reliability and meeting the right quantity when needed the most, all at most cost efficient rate possible. To be cost efficient it needs to operate economically such as storing the right amount of gas needed. It has to improve on its storage and deliver the gas in the best cost efficient using the right mode of transportation possible. The biggest threat could be when consumers like Boston Gas decide to build their own storage facilities and therefore start sourcing directly from the pipeline-gas providers, to be stored for usage during peak season. Q4. Proposal A: Slow Build up Strategy – In this proposal infrastructure will be built and machinery and trucks purchased to allow Distrigas to slowly build up inventories at the customer location. This strategy includes building a satellite tank which will serve as a reserve for the gas that is brought in by Alozean. It takes 250 days to build up inventories to satisfy peak demand. This model requires 6 trucks to carry the gas over the 250 day period. Field tanks will need to be built at the customer location in order to hold the gas that will service the peak demand and this will cost $ 25. 1 Million. This is one of the disadvantages of this strategy. The upside is that only 6 trucks are needed to operate on this strategy. Implementation of this strategy requires a total capital investment of $ 29. 376 Million and yields positive cash flows of . 325 (because of annual depreciation charges and tax rate of 50%) which shows that the project at a cost of capital of 9% has a Net Present Cost of $ – 26. 33 Million. Proposal B: Quick Build up Strategy – In this proposal peak demand for the Utility companies will be built by quickly sending gas to the companies based on peak season demand forecasts. This strategy will require 128 trucks to fulfill demand within a 10 day period.

African-American heritage Essays

African-American heritage Essays African-American heritage Essay African-American heritage Essay The two main characters are brothers of African-American heritage. The story of conflict is about how they come to know and understand each other. Sonnys older brother is 7 years his senior, and is the parental figure for Sonny, the older brother having made a promise to their dying mum that he would protect and parent Sonny. However, at the beginning of the story the brothers have been estranged for over a year, due to neither accepting the others values, goals and lifestyle. The older brother has a stable life and is married with children; he has become a responsible citizen as a school teacher. He has assimilated; whereas Sonny is a heroin addict jazz musician living a Bohemian life representative of the no good black.This is the 1950s in New York before the Civil Rights Movement when segregation was still practiced. The emphasis on jazz music through the story reflects the conflict between the brothers.Jazz music at the time was also dividing the African-A merican community in much the same way as the brothers were divided in approaches to life. The middle-class African-Americans is the group which the older brother falls into, they tended to downplay obvious barriers to their social successes (such as becoming a school teacher). The older brother, life many of the middle-class African-Americans at the time, wanted to believe that they could achieve high social status and standards of living, and was confident that hard work, sacrifice and perseverance would create a better and safer world for their children. This group of middle class African-Americans, like the older brother, were ready and willing to assimilate into white society fully, if they could be but given the chance. In sharp contrast, Sonny and African-Americans like him at the time (poor, unemployed, musicians and addicts) confront the status quo instead of accepting it. They perceive the struggle of the African-American to be an ongoing struggle of inequality and unaccep tance.Sonny and his cohorts sought radical social change to believe that they could ever enter access the opportunities and privileges of the white society. This divide between the brothers is highlighted when the older brother says to Sonny, Well, Sonny, you know people cant always do exactly what they want to do. Such as statement indicates the older brothers cautious and accountable way of approaching life; he willingly sacrifices his own wants and desires to that he can maintain his standing as a member of the middle-class. The older brother is worried for Sonny, he is afraid that Sonny will ultimately fail because he lacks ambition, perseverance and self-sacrifice. In response to his brother Sonny states, No, I dont know that. I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for? This reveals Sonnys unacceptance of other people setting his goals and standards of success.Another time the brothers are watching a street musician and sonny is deeply moved b ey her ability, recognizing the deep pain experiences she must of experienced to sing as she does. Sonny is receptive to the pain of others and is transformed by it, drawing on it for his art. However, the older brother does not empathize at all with the singer or Sonnys interpretation of her music. It also contributes to the conflict between the brothers that the story is set around a war and the part the USA has to play in it. At this time, many African-Americans were seeking to prove their value and equality to their white cohorts. Volunteering to go to war however meant ongoing frustration of not obtaining their goal to prove their Americaness and of wanting to assimilate, which in turn have contributed to the brothers feelings of dissatisfaction and alienation.Eventually, by the end of the story the older brother is able to understand why Sonny is the person he is, and why he himself is the person he is. He reflects on the students in his algebra class and the poor circumstance s that they live in. He realises that these kids may not have the opportunities that he did, and that drugs and music can be a way to work through the pain for them. In trying to comprehend his brothers drug use and lifestyle the older brother questioned a friend of Sonnys who is an addict, Tell me, why does he want to die?   He must want to die, hes killing himself, why does he want to die? The friend surprises the older brother by stating thatHe dont want to die. He wants to live. Dont nobody want to die, ever. The conflict between the brothers resolves when the older brother realizes that Sonny does not want to live by anothers definition of what makes a meaningful life. He sees discrimination as a barrier to freedom and equates this with death. Hence, living the white way (right way) is living as a ghost dead.To deal with this living death, to navigate his life, Sonny (and others like him) use drugs, music and other arts to escape social death. The conflicts within the story for Sonny and his older brother (middle-class/bohemia; acceptable job/musician; sibling/parental; drug use/responsible, white/black) serve to highlight what it is that is of true value. And what makes freedom true. Sonny and his cohorts conflict with what freedom is not (handcuffed to regulations, standards and authority; segregation; inequality; profit; consumption).The multi-layer of conflict presents a real-world scenario of searching for meaning and purpose in life. Notably, Baldwin was a street preacher for many years, and his storyline reflects this influence in the conflicts between this pseudo parent-child dyad with the two brothers. Myths and legends involving two brothers are numerous and patterned around conflict; in the west the most prominent being Cain murdering Able. Across cultures, sibling conflict between brothers has been used to deliver moral messages of action and consequence, and a way of value to lead ones life. Perhaps the use of siblings in Baldwins story is to emphasize the personal nature of the conflict/s; the brothers then representing two parts of the self. Yin and yang (black and white) polarities are needed to create tension (conflict) which has gradients of resolution and disintegration (the brothers find understanding/WWII).By the end his brother realises that it is through his music of bebop jazz and blues that Sonny channels and works through his pain.They have been estranged for over a year and he reads about a drug raid in which Sonny is arrested. Through his anger the brother comes to understand his brother better. Following release form prison the older brother continues the protective role and takes Sonny into his home. He is fulfilling a promise to his mum to look after Sonny following her death. His ongoing relationship with Sonny has been fragile and intermittent. He misunderstands and mistrusts his brothers need for music, especially as it is so related to Sonnys heroin addiction which is only barely under control.

Hollywoods Influence in the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hollywoods Influence in the Middle East - Essay Example Hollywood films in particular continue to remain a popular form of entertainment worldwide. Hollywood relies on best standards of production and animation techniques while dishing out the films. The fan-following of Hollywood stars spans far beyond the American boundaries. Middle East is certainly no exception. Though the region of Middle East has long been in the mainline media for all the wrong reasons, and at times, the acrimony towards West has found its place in an opposition towards Hollywood movies as well. But the fact that the craze for Hollywood never diminished, indicates towards the quality and Hollywood movies. At times film critics also accuse some of the latest films of depicting excessive violence in the films, thus affecting the tender minds of the film watchers. Some part of the Middle East in particular has had the misfortune of remaining under violence for the last couple of decades. Therefore, depiction of such violence on the screen invites the accusation of glorifying the violent methods. But it is equally true that filmmakers too want to 'sell' thei r products, and they'll try all legal means to market their movies in the best possible manner. Being contemporary in their depiction of the society is one such tried and tested method. Hollywood filmmakers are known to be obsessive researchers as well. They study a set of circumstances, situations and analyze the situation to arrive at some conclusion. At times this kind of inquisitive research leads to interesting findings as well. For example, Hollywood film director James Cameron stumbled upon the idea of making a film on a tomb found near Jerusalem in 1980 uncovered by Israeli construction workers. During the research, James Cameron came to the conclusion1 that the tomb actually belonged to Jesus and his family. This has generated a healthy debate amongst the historians and archeologists, and the final word is yet to come. Leon Trotsky (1973), a key figure in the famous Bolshevik revolution in Russia once said that cinema is a weapon, which cries out to be used (pp 32). This observation underlines the importance that films in general and Hollywood in the society. Though the Middle Eastern culture and society has not traditionally been as open as some of the Western nations, but the influence of western culture brought in by the films is quite perceptible. Be it the use of modern equipment, fancy cars, rugged bikes or the relationship amongst young people, the western influence is quite clear. Hollywood movies have certainly helped in shaping the attitude of the masses in general towards such things. Today we are living in an era of consumerism and globalization. Companies and organizations try their best to influence the buying behavior of the consumers. Globalization has resulted in bringing the world community closer to each other. This has resulted in some sort of uniformity in the marketing communi cation efforts as well. One of the major areas in marketing is consumer behavior. Middle East has traditionally been known as a potential market with most of the oil rich countries having good amount of money to spend on essential consumer items and other luxuries. Teams of marketing people from Western nations try out all avenues to reach the potential customer. Hollywood movies are one such very potent element in this marketing strategy. When the screen displays all the features of a product, the movie watchers tend to think about it, and as soon as they find it in the

Causes of Increase in Oil Prices in Last 36 Months Essay

Causes of Increase in Oil Prices in Last 36 Months - Essay Example Such circumstances encouraged speculators to adopt measures that would ensure they made sufficient money to meet future demand. Oil traders have started placing premiums on the prices of crude oil on the basis of instability and uncertainty in the Middle East, which has the largest oil reserves in the world. Moreover, the increasing internal disturbances in countries such as Libya, Iraq and Tunisia as well as the potential threats pertaining to disruption of crude oil production and transportation in this region and in Africa, have led to increase in oil prices. In view of these circumstances, speculators started bidding higher for oil, which again raised prices across the world. Governments of several oil producing countries have not been adopting efficient management practices that have adversely impacted the performance of the oil industry in these countries. For instance, oil producing nations such as Venezuela have been channeling their oil revenues into domestic politicking in order to continue holding on to power. The oil industry in Venezuela and other countries in the Caribbean region have been nationalized and are used by the respective governments to meet their political objectives. Revenues from the oil industry are used to finance social projects and to subsidize gasoline to citizens. Oil revenues are substantially misappropriated in meeting the costs of political agendas, which reduces oil available in the market and thus there is increase in prices. The PDVSA is the only oil company in Venezuela that is having complete stake in the country’s oil functions. In being owned by the state, its management complies with state mandates irrespective of the fact that the company’s long term revenues and profitability suffer a setback. These governments try to make more money out of the oil business by quoting oil prices at very high levels. In African countries such as Nigeria, the increasing activities of rebels and terrorists have deterred investors from investing in the oil industry (Flower, 2010). Such circumstances deprive the sector from employing advanced technology because of which high production levels cannot be achieved and the resultant short supply leads to higher prices. Increasing use of industrial and automobile equipments, especially in developing countries, has led to increased demand for oil. The law of demand and supply provides that the price of any commodity will increase if its demand increases at any given supply level. In view of political and economic circumstances oil producers are not increasing supply of oil adequately in keeping up with increasing demand. It is thus natural that oil prices will increase. In the last few years, the evolving patterns of industrialization and use of vehicles has led to advancement of production processes, which have led to increase in demand for oil. The global demand for crude oil is increasing steadily, particularly in India and China that are undergoing rap id industrialization and development processes (Gupta, 2005). The economies of China and India are slated to grow the maximum in the coming future and they have already started consuming much higher levels of oil in meeting their energy requirements. Increasing per capita incomes in China and India have considerably increased the demand for automobiles and more and more people now own their own cars (Reynolds, 2005). In view of the huge middle class in these two countries, which are the most populated countries in the world, it is apparent that the demand for oil will also increase substantially. The US is no longer the biggest oil consumer and cannot dominate the oil industry by demanding preferential oil prices for