URGENT 8 HOURS DEADLINE Brief Summary oF Macroeconomics chapters 5 and Essay

URGENT 8 HOURS DEADLINE Brief Summary oF Macroeconomics chapters 5 and 12 - Essay Example it is necessary to take note the total net export of goods and services which are also known as the Trade Balance given that a healthy economic activity should not have excessively large amount of total net import as compared with the net export. (p. 118) What happens when the total net import exceeds the total net export is that the country may eventually feel the negative economic consequences of not having sufficient money that flows within the domestic market. When this happen, there is a strong possibility that the normal domestic demand and supply for goods and services will be disrupted. In worst case scenario, it is possible for some domestic companies to implement massive lay-offs to ensure the business profitability and stability. Therefore, unemployment rate in the long-run is expected to increase. The same theory and economic consequences applies when a country’s net capital outflow of domestic lending abroad exceeds the total amount of foreign lending that enters the country. (pp. 118 – 119) Trade Balance uses the formula S – I and NX respectively (p. 118 – 119). In other words, a Trade Deficit and Trade Surplus occur in case the total Net Output and Trade Balance is negative and positive respectively (p. 119). Trade Balance occurs only when the total Net Capital Outflow and Trade Balance is equals to ZERO. It means that the total value of import is equal to the total value of export. A Bilateral Trade occurs when two countries agree to enter into a regular trading contract. However, it is not possible for a country to have experience a Bilateral Trade Balance. (p. 120) For instance: There is an agreement between China and U.S. to strengthen their import and export activities within one another. Even though both countries agreed to import and export goods and services, it is not possible for both countries to experience equal import and export. For this reason, it is possible to say that China has recently experienced Bilateral Trade

Patient Education And Epidural Pain Management Essay Example for Free

Patient Education And Epidural Pain Management Essay The term pain pertains to a sensation that is communicated by the sensory neurons that are located around the human body to the brain. This sensation is described as an unpleasant feeling that is generally related to a form of damage to a particular tissue in the body. Pain thus activates a specific physical and psychological reaction that tends to find a mechanism to terminate the unpleasant feeling. The ability to sense pain serves as the body’s warning system that informs us of any form of injury to our bodies. Pain is generally described in terms of its intensity and its duration. Intensity can be expressed through a range of descriptors from slight to agonizing, while the duration of pain may be depicted as constant or intermittent. Other characteristics that are commonly employed to describe pain include sharp, dull, throbbing and nauseating. The threshold of pain varies among individuals hence a numeric rating scale, with rating from 1 as the least painful situation to 10 as the most painful condition, has been employed for a more specific quantification of pain in patients. The numeric rating scale identifies level 4 as the cut-off score for pain that impedes an individual from performing his normal functions (Krebs et al. , 2007). In order to relieve an individual from pain, pain management is often provided at hospitals and clinics. In cases wherein the patient only suffers from acute pain, temporary medications are commonly administered to correct the medical problem. However, if the patient is experiencing chronic pain that is related to a condition that is currently being treated or is still undiagnosed, pain conduits are often put up to alleviate the sensation of pain in the patient. These conditions generally include cancer and neuropathy, wherein the pain is distinguished from the major medical condition of the patient. Pain management usually employs that administration of pharmacologic drugs such as analgesics and pain modifiers. In addition, other non-pharmacologic treatments may also be provided, which as normally interventional methods such as physical therapy, heat or cold compression and psychological therapy. One of the major interventional methods for pain management involves the administration of epidural analgesia, which is provided through the introduction of a catheter into the epidural space which is the space between the spinal cord and spinal canal. The effect of the injection of pain medications is to essentially remove the pain that the patient is experiencing by inhibiting further conduction of pain signals along the nerves or the spinal cord. Epidural analgesia is considered as a common technique for pain management because aside from reducing the pain felt by the patient, it also promotes vasodilation of blood vessels. Such result is actually a side-effect of epidural analgesia, yet it still benefits a patient if he has been diagnosed with a peripheral vascular medical condition. In addition, the utilization of epidural analgesia extends the effect of the pain medications for several days, instead of just a few days. In specific conditions that have associated pain such as childbirth, epidural analgesia is the favored pain management regimen because it does not cause any changes in muscle movement or power and it still retains its main role in pain conditions that may or may not require surgery. Epidural analgesia is also commonly used as an accessory to general anesthesia to decrease the patient’s need for opioid analgesics. Its use as an adjunct pain management scheme has been applied in a broad range of surgical procedures including hysterectomy, hip replacement, laparoscopy and open aortic aneurysm repair. Epidural analgesia is commonly used as the primary method for surgical anesthesia especially is Caesarean sections, which keeps the patient conscious during the entire surgical obstetric procedure (Halpern et al. , 2004). However, in such situations, the amount of anesthesia administered is generally much higher that what is usually employed for analgesia. Post-operative pain management may also involve epidural analgesia for the first few days after the procedure, which involves the introduction or retention of a catheter. There are certain situations when the patient is allowed to regulate the amount of pain medications that will be passed through the catheter. Such patient-controlled analgesia makes use of an infusion pump which the patient himself controls. Epidural analgesia is also used as remedy for back pain, as well as for palliative care. It has been established that epidural analgesia is most effective for the treatment of pain in specific regions such as the abdomen, pelvic and legs. This pain management technique is less effective in treating pain in chest, neck or arms, and is not effective for pain treatment in the head. It has been proven that epidural analgesia is more effective in relieving pain than intravenous narcotics and has been identified as the second most frequently used pain medication (Leighton and Halpern, 2002). Majority of women who give birth in hospitals are usually given only two options with regards to pain management, namely epidural analgesia or intravenous narcotics. It should be noted that alternative pharmacologic treatments for pain are also available, such as nitrous oxide and paracervical blocks. In addition, there are also doulas and continuous labor support, which typically requires less medical treatment and results in better outcomes with regards to the health of the mother and child. Also, these women are generally more satisfied with the results they observed after such alternative treatments. However, these alternative options are generally much more expensive (Simkin and OHara, 2002). It is interesting to note that even though epidural analgesia is reported to be significantly effective and common treatment for pain during child labor, there are a number of major side-effects that are associated with such use. It has been reported that epidural analgesia prolongs labor for an extended and considerable duration. In addition, its administration also influences the need for operative vaginal delivery and increases the chances for perineal laceration (Lieberman and ODonoghue, 2002). It has also been observed that the administration of epidural analgesia during obstetric procedures causes the mother to run a fever, which then results in the provision of antibiotics to the newborn child, as well as monitoring for symptoms and signs of sepsis in the infant. To date, great controversy envelopes the issue of whether epidural analgesia increases the risk of delivering a baby through Caesarean section as well as induces difficulty during labor. Research surveys show that most women have not been educated with regards to the possible side-effects of epidural analgesia (Declercq et al. , 2002). Hence the role and need for patient education has been an issue of close scrutiny in the past 5 years. Specific medical and non-medical groups have expressed their concern over the risks and benefits of epidural analgesia. More importantly, there has been concern that such type of patient education of pain management regimens should be given during pre-natal visits, and not during the actual labor stage of pregnancy. Hence, there is an urgent need to determine the amount of information that mothers know in relation to pain management and epidural analgesia because this option strongly influences the behavior of the newborn child, the breastfeeding conditions and the bonding between the mother and infant. In the United States, the dominant delivery method is composed of the induction of labor, administration of epidural analgesia, constant electronic fetal monitoring and Caesarean section. It has been analyzed that when the frequency of epidural analgesia is high, the alternative methods for childbirth are usually not available in the medical institution. These include sessions in childbirth education, doulas, non-pharmacologic pain management regimens, as well as the provision for nurses especially trained in assisting in medication-independent childbirth. Hence what is observed now in most of the hospitals are labor stages that are mainly supported by epidural analgesia and parenteral analgesics. In addition, medical healthcare professionals providing labor support are often overworked due to the huge number of delivery cases in a week. The issue of the shortage of nurses in the healthcare industry has also complicated the problem on the usage of epidural analgesia in hospitals. There are certain obstetricians who prefer to maintain a patient at labor that is supported by an intravenous line in order that they still find time to monitor their other patients in the hospital. It has been considered that the availability of healthcare professional during a patient’s labor and delivery is a luxury. More so, the inability to provide epidural analgesia to a patient during labor has often been a topic that has frequently been investigated in court malpractice cases. The importance of patient education with regards to epidural analgesia as the pain management scheme is thus very important in order to provide the patient with more than the regular two pain management choices that could be administered during her delivery. Patient education should also include the provision of information on the Caesarean delivery, wherein the patient must be able to carry enough knowledge to know that it is her right to request for a Caesarean delivery even when it is normally not recommended if there are no maternal or fetal complications for childbirth. There has been controversy with regards to the competence of smaller hospitals to could not universally provide epidural analgesia. It is unfortunate to know that not a single medical organization supports the concept of establishing a wide range of support methods during labor and pain management schemes, which is strongly associated with patient education and choice. In other countries, Caesarian delivery is the preferred delivery method by women because they are aware the other forms of labor and delivery schemes are not associated with sufficient medical care and attention (Behague et al. 2002). At the same time in the United States, women perceive that epidural analgesia is the sole and effective method for pain management. Actually, family physicians are not the main healthcare professionals that are responsible for the unbelievably high rates in the use of epidural analgesia during labor and childbirth. This medical professional observes when the patient is experiencing pain during labor and he relays this condition to the attending nurses, who in turn, will communicate the information to the anesthesiologist. Such relay of message from the patient to eventually the anesthesiologist is generally comprised by a simple nod from the family physician, which then triggers a battery of messages that eventually end with the administration of epidural analgesia to the patient. Such translation of patient pain to epidural analgesia administration is actually inappropriate and this is where patient education related to epidural analgesia comes into the picture. It is actually the family physician responsibility to educate his patient with regards to the choices in pain management. Instead of having a family physician that advocates epidural analgesia because it provides him freedom to look at his other patients while a particular patient is in labor, the family physician should be an advocate for the patient herself. Patient education entails spending time to teach and coach his patient which pain management schemes are currently available, as well as describing to the patient the effectiveness, side-effects and complications of each pain management scheme. The patient should also be educated of the limitations of each of the available pain management options. It is also ideal that the patient knows that she has the right to choose which pain management scheme she wants to receive, but this can only be done if the patient has sufficient understanding of pain management. It is also ideal that family physicians learn more of the details of the other alternative methods in managing pain. It has been observed that such patient education regarding pain management choices are important so that the patient has knowledge of what to expect during the actual medical procedure (Marmor and Krol, 2002). Patient education also involves the explanation of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA), which is a labor and delivery pain management option that uses bupivacaine with or without opioids. The theory behind PCEA is that the patient can personally adjust the amount of epidural anesthesia that is needed to remove the pain he is experiencing. Such option for pain management often results in a high degree of patient satisfaction because it allows the patients to be free of the uncomfortable sensation of pain, as well as provide a way for the patient to feel a sense of control over the entire hospital procedure (Standl et al. 2003). It is thus important the patient education be provided to a patient, in order for him to understand the entire scenario of the procedure as well as to help him draw an image of the expected events that could unfold during his stay at the hospital. PCEA is currently in high demand because the patients often want a quick solution to the pain they are experiencing. In addition, these patients are not patient enough to wait for the next round of administration of pain killers when they are experiencing constant pain. It is also essential that patient education in relation to epidural analgesia must explain that PCEA is inefficient during the first stages of labor and thus a higher concentration of epidural analgesia is needed to relieve the patient from pain. Patient education also diminishes the expectations of patients that PCEA always results in the complete removal of the feeling of pain when they choose PCEA. Knowledge and understanding of epidural analgesia will thus result in patient satisfaction in terms of pain management. Patient education as related to epidural analgesia also includes a description of the possibility that an extensive spinal block in the positioning of the catheter may happen (Bernard et al. , 2000). This event often results in the decrease in the motor abilities of the legs and that once the patient observes this, he must inform a healthcare professional immediately for medical attention. In addition, patient education should also alert the patient that the catheter employed in epidural analgesia has a chance to migrate within the blood vessels, which is also known as intravascular migration. Such event is associated with a slower rate of infusion of analgesia which in turn generates systemic effects. The patient should also be educated with regards to the toxicity of epidural analgesia. Providing patient education in relation to epidural analgesia often results in patient satisfaction because the patient has a better understanding of the mechanisms and principles behind the pain management scheme, as well as its similarity and difference to other pain management options, such as continuous epidural infusion (CEI). Patient education also involves explanation on the receptors that are involved in controlling pain. These include the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) which acts in the central sensitization of the patient. Simple explanations regarding antagonists that decrease the sensitization for pain without reducing hemodynamic or respiration activity should also be included, and the other options that results in negative physiological effects such as opioids should also be described. The provisions for instruction is especially important to patients that suffer from pain due to general musculoskeletal tumor resections and those that have other medical conditions that are related to wakefulness and full orientation. There are also options in combining a N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist such as dextromethorphan with PCEA, which often circumvents the issue of sedation in PCEA (Weinbroum et al. , 2004). Reports have described that such combination generally results in better feelings of well-being in the patient. Dextromethorphan is relatively safe for orthopedic oncological patients who are commonly administered massive dosages of analgesics. There has also been reported the patients could not distinguish the feeling of PCEA and dextromethorphan, although there is a significant difference in a lack of inhibition of motor abilities using this combination. CONCLUSION This report suggests that patient education in relation to epidural analgesia results in patient satisfaction. Patient education generates a better understanding of the principles and mechanisms behind pain management schemes. In addition, the patient is given the right to reject or accept epidural analgesia based on his own comprehension that was earlier provided by the healthcare professional. Patient education also supports a PCEA setting that improves analgesia, as well as patient satisfaction during labor. This supports a better setting for the patient himself and decreases the need for rescue analgesia. Also, the increase in analgesia consumption can also be controlled through patient education, thus minimizing the side effects that are generated by particular pain killers. More importantly, patient education removes the discontent and disappointment that the patient may experience from insufficient knowledge and understanding of epidural analgesia.

Have We Overcome Segregation? Essay -- Segregation, history, USA,

1950. America was in the midst of a racial battle. African Americans used separate bathrooms, went to separate schools and were treated with the least amount of respect. The world was a much different place where segregation was the norm. Today though, the majority of Americans believe we have overcome this inequality. But have we really? When looking at the educational system in today’s society, you can easily find flaws in almost every aspect of it. Although I agree that we have came a long way in overcoming a lot of these issues there is still one that remains very prominent in almost every school in America: segregation. While segregation may no longer be taught or enforced nationwide, you still see it across schools within cliques, gangs, and social settings. Even though it may be human nature to â€Å"hang out† with people you can identify with the most, it is the negative acts against everyone else of different ethnicity that causes problems. Today these problems are widespread but because we live in a country that pretends we have overcome racism, it goes unpublicized. However, within doing some research you can find some of these stories of segregation in today’s society everywhere from the news to Hollywood videos. In a 2006 NBC News story, a school in Omaha, Nebraska was debating on splitting the school up into three different districts. The first district would be white, the second black and the third Latino. In defense for this proposal the state senator is saying, â€Å"Segregation exists right now. Our children are failing and our schools are failing. The gap between the achievements of white children and black children in their respective schools is not narrowing (Tibbles).† He proposes that each school would be able to ... ... are acting out the way they are. A change is going to have to occur within the educational system and parenting, in order to see a change in society. Children learn a good majority of their social skills, including how to segregate from one another in school. When we have our children growing up with these ideas being instilled at home and at school, how can we expect any change in the future? If we are still having segregated proms and noose’s hanging from trees in the year 2009, where equality obviously doesn’t exist, when is the â€Å"real† change going to occur? Are we soon going to be going back to a time where African Americans used separate bathrooms, attend separate schools and are no longer treated with the respect they deserve? I believe if we continue allowing segregation the way we have been, that yes, we will eventually find ourselves reliving the 1950’s. Have We Overcome Segregation? Essay -- Segregation, history, USA, 1950. America was in the midst of a racial battle. African Americans used separate bathrooms, went to separate schools and were treated with the least amount of respect. The world was a much different place where segregation was the norm. Today though, the majority of Americans believe we have overcome this inequality. But have we really? When looking at the educational system in today’s society, you can easily find flaws in almost every aspect of it. Although I agree that we have came a long way in overcoming a lot of these issues there is still one that remains very prominent in almost every school in America: segregation. While segregation may no longer be taught or enforced nationwide, you still see it across schools within cliques, gangs, and social settings. Even though it may be human nature to â€Å"hang out† with people you can identify with the most, it is the negative acts against everyone else of different ethnicity that causes problems. Today these problems are widespread but because we live in a country that pretends we have overcome racism, it goes unpublicized. However, within doing some research you can find some of these stories of segregation in today’s society everywhere from the news to Hollywood videos. In a 2006 NBC News story, a school in Omaha, Nebraska was debating on splitting the school up into three different districts. The first district would be white, the second black and the third Latino. In defense for this proposal the state senator is saying, â€Å"Segregation exists right now. Our children are failing and our schools are failing. The gap between the achievements of white children and black children in their respective schools is not narrowing (Tibbles).† He proposes that each school would be able to ... ... are acting out the way they are. A change is going to have to occur within the educational system and parenting, in order to see a change in society. Children learn a good majority of their social skills, including how to segregate from one another in school. When we have our children growing up with these ideas being instilled at home and at school, how can we expect any change in the future? If we are still having segregated proms and noose’s hanging from trees in the year 2009, where equality obviously doesn’t exist, when is the â€Å"real† change going to occur? Are we soon going to be going back to a time where African Americans used separate bathrooms, attend separate schools and are no longer treated with the respect they deserve? I believe if we continue allowing segregation the way we have been, that yes, we will eventually find ourselves reliving the 1950’s.

The Three Facets of the Christian Walk :: Biblical Bible Christian Religious Essays

The Three Facets of the Christian Walk As I begin this essay, I pray that I might be able to "rightly divide the word of truth", so that I need not be ashamed (2 Tim 2:15). This being my goal, I hope that you the reader might learn something from this essay. Remember though, to be as the Christians in Thessalonica, and examine all teachings based on their faithfulness to the scriptures (Acts 17:11). As Christians, we are to go through life in a certain way. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus tells us that the proper path in life is narrow. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. What then is this path? Well, as Christians, we know that the path to Eternal Life is through Jesus. Jesus tells us in John 14:6 that, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. So we know that, as Christians, we have already turned to face the right direction. As all Christians certainly know, though, the story does not end with the Sinner's Prayer. After that day of salvation, we must go to sleep, and then rise again the next morning, again having to face a fallen world. In order to be the "Salt of the World", as we are told we are in Matthew 5:13, we must know how to walk. Certainly one that follows all of the dictates of the scriptures is doing right (all of the dictates, NOT just the rules of action). It is my belief that the Christian walk can be broken down into three inter-related Facets. The first of these facets is Worship. The word "worship" appears in the King James Version of the Bible 108 times. Under the classification of worship, one could include such things as praise, prayer, and thanksgiving. Worship, though, is more than these things. One can worship in all things, because to worship is to give glory to God (1 Peter 4:11). One can give glory to God by having a heart attitude of thanksgiving and praise when walking through a grocery store, through the woods, or down a street.

Literature-based discovery of diabetes

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known mediators of cellular damage in multiple diseases including diabetic complications. Despite its importance, no comprehensive database is currently available for the genes associated with ROS. Methods We present ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) collected from the biomedical literature through a text mining technology. A web-based literature mining tool, SciMiner, was applied to 54 biomedical papers indexed with diabetes and ROS by PubMed to identify relevant targets.Over-represented targets in the ROS-diabetes literature were obtained through comparisons against randomly selected literature. The expression levels of nine genes, selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes set, were measured in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of diabetic and non-diabetic DBA/2J mice in order to evaluate the biological relevance of literature- derived targets in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Results SciMiner identified 1,026 ROS- and diabet es-related targets from the 54 biomedical papers (http://Jdrf. eurology. med. umich. edu/ROSDiabetes/ webcite). Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes literature ompared to randomly selected literature. These over-represented targets included well-known members of the oxidative stress response including catalase, the NADPH oxidase family, and the superoxide dismutase family of proteins. Eight of the nine selected genes exhibited significant differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice.For six genes, the direction of expression change in diabetes paralleled enhanced oxidative stress in the DRG. Conclusions Literature mining compiled ROS-diabetes related targets from the biomedical literature and led us to evaluate the biological relevance of selected targets in the athogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body does not produce or properly respond to insulin, a hormone required to convert ca rbohydrates into energy for daily life. According to the American Diabetes Association, 23. million children and adults, approximately 7. 8% of the population in the United States, have diabetes [1]. The cost of diabetes in 2007 was estimated to be $174 billion [1]. The micro- and macro-vascular complications of diabetes are the most common causes of renal tailure, blindness and amputations leading to significant morta y, morbidity poor quality of life; however, incomplete understanding of the causes of diabetic complications hinders the development of mechanism-based therapies.In vivo and in vitro experiments implicate a number of enzymatic and non-enzymatic metabolic pathways in the initiation and progression of diabetic complications [2] including: (1) increased polyol pathway activity leading to sorbitol and fructose accumulation, NAD(P)-redox imbalances and changes in signal transduction; (2) non- enzymatic glycation of proteins yielding â€Å"advanced glycation end-productsâ €  (AGES); (3) ctivation of protein kinase C (PKC), initiating a cascade of intracellular stress responses; and (4) increased hexosamine pathway flux [2,3].Only recently has a link among these pathways been established that provides a unified mechanism of tissue damage. Each of these pathways directly and indirectly leads to overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [23]. ROS are highly reactive ions or small molecules including oxygen ions, free radicals and peroxides, formed as natural byproducts of cellular energy metabolism. ROS are implicated in multiple cellular pathways such as mitogen-activated protein kinase MAPK) signaling, c-Jun amino-terminal kinase ONK), cell proliferation and apoptosis [4-6].Due to the highly reactive properties of ROS, excessive ROS may cause significant damage to proteins, DNA, RNA and lipids. All cells express enzymes capable of neutralizing ROS. In addition to the maintenance of antioxidant systems such as glutathione and thioredoxins, pri mary sensory neurons express two main detoxifying enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD) [7] and catalase [8]. SOD converts superoxide (02-) to H202, which is reduced to H20 by glutathione and catalase [8].SODI is the main form of SOD in the cytoplasm; SOD2 is located within the itochondria. In neurons, SODI activity represents approximately 90% of total SOD activity and SOD2 approximately 10% [9]. Under diabetic conditions, this protective mechanism is overwhelmed due to the substantial increase in ROS, leading to cellular damage and dysfunction [10]. The idea that increased ROS and oxidative stress contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications has led scientists to investigate different oxidative stress pathways [7,11].Inhibition of ROS or maintenance of euglycemia restores metabolic and vascular imbalances and blocks both the initiation and progression of omplications [1 2,13]. Despite the significant implications and extensive research into the role of ROS in diabetes, n o comprehensive database regarding ROS-related genes or proteins is currently available. In the present study, a comprehensive list of ROS- and diabetes-related targets (genes/proteins) was compiled from the biomedical literature through text mining technology.SciMiner, a web-based literature mining tool [14], was used to retrieve and process documents and identify targets from the text. SciMiner provides a convenient web-based platform for target-identification within the biomedical iterature, similar to other tools including EBIMed [1 5], ALI BABA [16], and Polysearch [1 7]; however, SciMiner is unique in that it searches tull text documents, suppo free-text PubMed query style, and allows the comparison of target lists from multiple queries.The ROS-diabetes targets collected by SciMiner were further tested against randomly selected non-ROS-diabetes literature to identify targets that are significantly over- represented in the ROS-diabetes literature. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on these targets to identify significantly over-represented biological unctions in terms of Gene Ontology (GO) terms and pathways. In order to confirm the biological relevance of the over-represented ROS-diabetes targets, the gene expression levels of nine selected targets were measured in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) from mice with and without diabetes.DRG contain primary sensory neurons that relay information from the periphery to the central nervous system (CNS) Unlike the CNS, DRG are not protected by a blood-nerve barrier, and are consequently vulnerable to metabolic and toxic injury [19]. We hypothesize that differential expression of identified targets in DRG would confirm heir involvement in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy. Defining ROS-diabetes literature To retrieve the list of biomedical literature associated with ROS and diabetes, PubMed was queried using (â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] AND â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]).This que ry yielded 54 articles as of April 27, 2009. SciMiner, a web-based literature mining tool [14], was used to retrieve and process the abstracts and available full text documents to identify targets (full text documents were available for approximately 40% of the 1 , 1 54 articles). SciMiner-identified targets, eported in the form of HGNC [HUGO (Human Genome Organization) Gene Nomenclature Committee] genes, were confirmed by manual review of the text. Comparison with human curated data (NCBI Gene2PubMed) The NCBI Gene database provides links between Gene and PubMed.The links are the result of (1) manual curation within the NCBI via literature analysis as part of generating a Gene record, (2) integration of information from other public databases, and (3) GeneRlF (Gene Reference Into Function) in which human experts provide a brief summary of gene functions and make the connections between citation PubMed) and Gene databases. For the 54 ROS-diabetes articles, gene-paper associations we re retrieved from the NCBI Gene database. Non-human genes were mapped to homologous human genes through the NCBI HomoloGene database.The retrieved genes were compared against the SciMiner derived targets. Any genes missed by SciMiner were added to the ROS-diabetes target set. Protein-protein interactions among ROS-diabetes targets To indirectly examine the association of literature derived targets (by SciMiner and NCBI Gene2PubMed) with ROS and diabetes, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) mong the targets were surveyed This was based on an assumption that targets are more likely to have PPIs with each other if they are truly associated within the same biological functions/pathways.A PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets was generated using the Michigan Molecular Interactions (MIMI, http://mimi. ncibi. org/ webcite) database [20] and compared against 100 PPI networks of randomly drawn sets (the same number of the ROS-diabetes target set) from HUGO. A standard Z-test and one sample T-test were used to calculate the statistical significance of the ROS- diabetes PPI network with respect to the random PPI networks.Functional enrichment analysis Literature derived ROS-diabetes targets (by SciMiner and NCBI Gene2PubMed) were subject to functional enrichment analyses to identify significantly over-represented biological functions in terms of Gene Ontology [21], pathways (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG, http://www. genome. ]p/kegg/ webcite) [22] and Reactome http://www. reactome. org/ webcite[23]). Fisher's exact test [24] was used to calculate the statistical significance of these biological functions with BenJamini-Hochberg (BH) adjusted p-value ; 0. 5 [25] as the cut-off. Over-represented ROS-diabetes targets Defining background corpora To identify a subset of targets that are highly over-represented within the ROS- diabetes targets, the frequency of each target (defined as the number of documents in which the target was identified divided by the n umber of total documents in the query) was compared against the frequencies in randomly selected background corpora.Depending on how the background set is defined, over-represented targets may vary widely; therefore, to maintain the background corpora close to the ROS and diabetes context, documents were selected from the same Journal, volume, and issue f the 54 ROS-diabetes documents, but were NOT indexed with â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] nor â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]. For example, one of the ROS-diabetes articles (PMID: 18227068), was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Volume 283, Issue 16. This issue contained 85 papers, 78 of which were not indexed with either â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] or â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH] indexed.One of these 78 papers was randomly selected as a background document. Three sets of 54 documents were selected using this approach and processed using SciMiner. Identified targets were con firmed by manual review for accuracy. Identifying significantly over-represented targets ROS-diabetes targets were tested for over-representation against targets identified from the three background sets. Fisher's exact test was used to determine if the frequency of each target in the ROS-diabetes target set was significantly different from that of the background sets. Any targets with a BH adjusted p-value < 0. 5 in at least two of the three comparisons were deemed to be an over-represented ROS- diabetes target. Functional enrichment analyses were performed on these over- represented ROS-diabetes targets as described above. Selecting targets tor real-time R A subset of targets were selected for RT-PCR from the top 10 over-represented ROS- diabetes targets excluding insulin and NADPH oxidase 5 (NOX5), which does not have a mouse ortholog. Nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOSI), the main generator of nitric oxide, ranked at the 1 5th position and was additionally selected for inclusion in th e test set.Differential gene expression by real-time RT-PCR Mice DBA/2J mice were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME). Mice were housed in a pathogen-free environment and cared for following the University of Michigan Committee on the Care and Use of Animals guidelines. Mice were fed AIN76A chow (Research Diets, New Brunswick, NJ). Male mice were used for this study. Induction of diabetes Two treatment groups were defined: control (n = 4) and diabetic (n = 4). Diabetes was induced at 13 weeks of age by low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) injections, 50 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days.All diabetic mice received LinBit sustained release insulin implants (LinShin, Toronto, Canada) at 8 weeks post-STZ treatment. Insulin implants were replaced every 4 weeks, at 12 and 16 weeks post-STZ treatment. At 20 weeks post-STZ treatment, mice were euthanized by sodium pentobarbital overdose and DRG were harvested as previously described [26]. Real-time RT-PCR The gene expression o f the selected nine literature-derived ROS-diabetes targets in DRG was measured using real-time RT-PCR in duplicate.The amount of mRNA isolated from each DRG was normalized to an endogenous reference [Tbp: TATA box binding protein; A cycle threshold (CT)]. Identification of ROS-diabetes targets A total of 1,021 unique targets were identified by SciMiner from the 1,154 ROS- diabetes papers defined by the query of (â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] AND â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH]) and confirmed by manual review. Table 1 contains the op 10 most frequently mentioned targets in the ROS-diabetes papers. Insulin was the most frequently mentioned target, followed by superoxide dismutase 1 and catalase. Table 1 .Top 10 most frequent ROS-diabetes targets The NCBI Gene2PubMed database, containing expert-curated associations between the NCBI Gene and PubMed databases, revealed 90 unique genes associated with the 54 ROS-diabetes papers (Additional File 1). SciMiner identified 85 out of these 90 targets, indicating a 94% recall rate. Five targets missed by SciMiner were added to the initial ROS-diabetes target set to result in 1,026 unique targets (Additional File 2). Additional tile 1. The list ot 90 genes trom the NCBI Gene2PubMed database tor the ROS-Diabetes literature (1 , 1 54 papers).Format: XLS Size: 35KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 2. The list of 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 229KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets The PPI network among the ROS-diabetes targets was evaluated using MIMI interaction data. This was based on the assumption that targets commonly related to certain topic are more likely to have frequent interactions with each other.One hundred PPI networks were generated for comparison using the same number of genes (1,026) randomly selected from the complete HUGO gene set (2 5,254). The PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets was significantly different from the randomly generated networks indicating their strong association with the topic â€Å"ROS and Diabetes†. Table 2 demonstrates that the mean number of targets with any PPI interaction in the randomly generated target sets was 528. 9 (approximately 52% of 1,026 targets), while the number of targets with any PPI interaction in the ROS- iabetes target was 983 (96%).The number of targets interacting with each other was also significantly different between the random networks (mean = 155. 4) and the ROS-diabetes network (mean = 879). Figure 1 illustrates the distributions of these measurements from the 100 random networks with the ROS-diabetes set depicted as a red vertical line. It is obvious that the PPI network of the ROS-diabetes targets is significantly different from the random networks. Table 2. Summary of 100 randomly generated PPI networks thumbnailFigure 1 . Histograms of randomly gene rated PPI networks.The histograms llustrate the distributions of 100 randomly generated networks, while the red line indicates the ROS-diabetes targets. The network of the ROS-diabetes targets is significantly different from the 100 randomly generated networks, indicating the overlap of ROS-diabetes targets with respect to the topic â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species and Diabetes†. Functional enrichment analyses of the ROS-diabetes targets Functional enrichment analyses of the 1,026 ROS-diabetes targets were performed to identify over-represented biological functions of the ROS-diabetes targets.After BenJamini-Hochberg correction, a total of 189 molecular functions, 450 biological rocesses, 73 cellular components and 341 pathways were significantly enriched in the ROS-diabetes targets when compared against all the HUGO genes (see Additional Files 3, 4, 5 and 6 for the full lists). Table 3 lists the top 3 most over-represented GO terms and pathways ranked by p-values of Fisher's ex act test: e. g. , apoptosis, oxidoreductase activity and insulin signaling pathway. Additional file 3. The enriched Molecular Functions Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 91 KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 4. The nriched Biological Processes Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 95KB Download file This tile can be viewed wit Microsott Excel Vieweropen Data Additional tile enriched Cellular Components Gene Ontology Terms in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 61 KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 6. The enriched pathways in the 1,026 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 104KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Table 3. Enriched functions of 1,026 ROS-diabetes targets Identification of over-represented ROS-diabetes targets To identify th e ROS-diabetes targets highly over-represented in ROS-diabetes literature, three sets of background corpora of the same size (n = 1 , 1 54 documents) were generated using the same Journal, volume and issue approach. The overlap among the three background sets in terms of documents and identified targets are illustrated in Figure 2.Approximately 90% of the selected background documents were unique to the individual set, while 50% of the identified targets were identified in at least one of the three background document sets. The frequencies of the identified targets were compared among the background sets for significant differences. None of the targets had a BH adjusted p-value ; 0. 05, indicating no significant difference among the targets from the three different background sets (See Additional File 7). thumbnailFigure 2. Venn diagrams of document compositions and identified targets of the randomly generated background sets.Approximately 90% of the selected background documents we re unique to individual set (A), while 50% of the identified targets were identified in at least one of the three background document sets (B). Additional file 7. Comparisons of target frequencies among three background sets. Format: XLS Size: 22KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Comparisons of the ROS-diabetes targets against these background sets revealed 53 highly over- represented ROS-diabetes targets as listed in Table 4.These 53 targets were significant (p-value ; 0. 05) against all three background sets and significant following BenJamini-Hochberg multiple testing correction (BH adjusted p-value ; 0. 05) against at least two of the three background sets. SODI was the most over-represented in he ROS-diabetes targets. Table 4. 53 targets over-represented in ROS-diabetes literature Functional enrichment analyses of the over-represented ROS-diabetes targets Functional enrichment analyses of the 53 ROS-diabetes targets were performed to identify over- represented biological functions.Following BenJamini-Hochberg correction, a total of 65 molecular functions, 209 biological processes, 26 cellular components and 108 pathways were significantly over-represented when compared against all the HUGO genes (see Additional Files 8, 9, 10 and 11 for the full lists). Table 5 shows the top 3 ost significantly over-represented GO terms and pathways ranked by p-values of Fisher's exact test. GO terms related to oxidative stress such as â€Å"superoxide metabolic process†, â€Å"superoxide release†, â€Å"electron carrier activity† and â€Å"mitochondrion† were highly over-represented 53 ROS-diabetes targets Additional file 8.The enriched Molecular Functions Gene Ontology Terms in the Over- represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 46KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 9. The enriched Biological Processes Gene Ontology Terms in the Over-represented 53 ROS- Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 95KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 10. The enriched Cellular Components Gene Ontology Terms in the Over-represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets.Format: XLS Size: 66KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Additional file 1 1 . The enriched pathways in the Over-represented 53 ROS-Diabetes targets. Format: XLS Size: 75KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data Table 5. Enriched functions of the 53 over-represented targets in diabetes Gene expression change in iabetes Two groups of DBA/2J mice exhibited significantly different levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (%GHb). The mean ? ± SEM were 6. 2 ? ± 0. for the non-diabetic control group and for 14. 0 ? ± 0. 8 for the diabetic group (p-value < 0. 001), indicative of prolonged hyperglycemia in the diabetic group [26]. DRG were harvested from these animals for gene expression assays. Nine genes were selected from the top ranked ROS-diabetes targets: superoxide dismutase 1 (Sodl), catalase (Cat), xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh), protein kinase C alpha (Prkca), neutrophil cytosolic factor 1 Ncfl), nitric oxide synthase 3 (Nos3), superoxide dismutase 2 (Sod2), cytochrome b-245 alpha (Cyba), and nitric oxide synthase 1 (Nosl).Eight genes exhibited differential expression between diabetic and non-diabetic mice (p-value < 0. 05) as shown in Figure 3. Cat, Sodl, Sod2, Prkca, and NOSI expression levels were decreased, while Ncfl , Xdh, and Cyba expression levels were increased in diabetes. thumbnailFigure 3. Gene expression levels of selected ROS-diabetes targets in DRG examined by real-time RT-PCR. Expression levels are relative to Tbp, an internal control (error bar = SEM) (*, p < 0. 05; **, p < 0. 01; ***, p < 0. 01). Eight (Cat, Sodl, Ncfl , Xdh, Sod2, Cyba, Prkca, and Nosl) out of the nine selected ROS-diabetes genes were sign ificantly regulated by diabetes. Discussion Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are products of normal energy metabolism and play important roles in many other biological processes such as the immune response and signaling cascades [4-6]. As mediators of cellular damage, ROS are implicated in pathogenesis of multiple diseases including diabetic complications [27-30].With the aid of literature mining technology, we collected 1 ,026 possible ROS-related targets from a set of biomedical literature indexed with both ROS and diabetes. Fifty-three targets were significantly over-represented in the ROS-diabetes papers when compared against three background sets. Depending on how the background set is defined, the over-represented targets may vary widely. An ideal background set would be the entire PubMed set; however, this is not possible due to limited access to tull texts and intense data processing.An alternative method wou d be to use only abstracts in PubMed, but this may not fully represen t the literature. Using only the abstracts, our target identification method resulted in 21 (39%) of the 53 key ROS- iabetes targets (Additional File 12), suggesting the benefit of rich information in full text documents. In the present study, background documents were randomly selected from the same Journal, volume, and issue of the 54 ROS-diabetes documents, which were not indexed with â€Å"Reactive Oxygen Species†[MeSH] nor â€Å"Diabetes Mellitus†[MeSH].This approach maintained the background corpora not far from the ROS and diabetes context. Additional file 12. The Key 53 ROS-Diabetes Targets Identifiable Using Only the Abstracts. Format: XLS Size: 23KB Download file This file can be viewed with: Microsoft Excel Vieweropen Data The gene expression evels of nine targets selected from the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets were measured in diabetic and non-diabetic DRG. Our laboratory is particularly interested in deciphering the underlying mechanisms of diab etic neuropathy, a major complication of diabetes.Data published by our laboratory both in vitro and in vivo confirm the negative impact of oxidative stress in complication-prone neuron tissues like DRG In an effort to obtain diabetic neuropathy specific targets, SciMiner was employed to further analyze a subset of the ROS-diabetes papers (data not shown). Nerve growth factor (NGF) was identified as the most over- epresented target in this subset when compared to the full ROS-diabetes set; however, NGF did not have statistical significance (BH adjusted p-value = 0. 06). The relatively small numbers of papers and associated targets may have contributed to this non-significance.Therefore, the candidate targets for gene expression validation were selected from among the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets derived from the full ROS-diabetes corpus. Among the tested genes, the expression levels of Cat, Sodl , Sod2, Prkca, and NOSI were decreased, while the expression levels of Ncfl , Xdh, and Cyba were increased nder diabetic conditions. Cat, Sodl , and Sod2 are responsible for protecting cells from oxidative stress by destroying superoxides and hydrogen peroxides [8-11]. Decreased expression of these genes may result in oxidative stress [32].Increased expression of Cyba and Ncfl , subunits of superoxide-generating nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase complex [30], also supports enhanced oxidative stress. Xdh and its inter-convertible form, Xanthine oxidase (Xod), showed increased activity in various rat tissues under oxidative stress conditions ith diabetes [33], and also showed increased expression in diabetic DRG in the current study. Unlike the above concordant genes, protein kinase C and nitric oxide synthases did not exhibit predicted expression changes in diabetes.Protein kinase C activates NADPH oxidase, further promoting oxidative stress in the cell [34,35]. Decreased expression of Prkca in our diabetic DRG is not parallel with expression levels of other enzymes expected to increase oxidative stress. Between the two nitric oxide synthases tested in the present study, NOSI (neuronal) expression was significantly decreased (p-value < 0. 01) in diabetes, while Nos3 (endothelial) expression was not significant (p-value = 0. 06). The neuronal NOSI is expected to play a major role in producing nitric oxide, another type of highly reactive free radical.Thus, with some exceptions, the majority of the differentially expressed genes in DRG show parallel results to the known activities of these targets in diabetes, suggesting enhanced oxidative stress in the diabetic DRG. Assessment of antioxidant enzyme expression in diabetes has yielded a variety of results [36-40] depending upon the duration of diabetes, the tissue studied and other factors. In diabetic mice and rats, it is commonly reported that superoxide dismutases are down-regulated [37-40], where data regarding catalase are variable [36,40].PKC is activated i n diabetes, but most papers that examined mRNA demonstrated that its expression is largely unchanged [41]. Among the 53 over-represented ROS-diabetes targets, SODI was the most over- represented and was differentially expressed under diabetic and non-diabetic conditions. To the best of our knowledge, no published study has investigated the role of SODI in the onset and/or progression of diabetic neuropathy. Mutations of SODI have long been associated with the inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) [42] and the theory of oxidative stress-based aging [43].Early reports indicate that knockout of the SODI gene does not affect nervous system development [44], although recovery following injury is slow and incomplete [45,46]. With respect to diabetes, SODI KO accelerates the development of diabetic nephropathy [47] and cataract formation [48]. Thus, examining the SODI KO mouse as a model of diabetic neuropathy would be a reasonable follow-up study. One limitation of the cur rent approach using literature mining technology is incorrect r missed identification of the mentioned targets within the literature.Based on a performance evaluation using a standard text set BioCreAtlvE (Critical Assessment of Information Extraction systems in Biology) version 2 [49], SciMiner achieved 87. 1% recall (percentage identification of targets in the given text), 71. 3% precision (percentage accuracy of identified target) and 75. 8% F-measure (harmonious average of recall and precision = (2 x recall x precision)/(recall + precision)) before manual revision [14]. In order to improve the accuracy of SciMiner's results, each target was anually reviewed and corrected by checking the sentences in which each target was identified.Approximately, 120 targets (†10% of the initially identified targets from the ROS-diabetes papers) were removed during the manual review process. The overall accuracy is expected to improve through the review process; however, the review process did not address targets missed by SciMiner, since we did not thoroughly review individual papers. Instead, 5 missed targets, whose associations with ROS-diabetes literature were available in the NCBI Gene2PubMed database, were added to the final ROS-diabetes target list (Additional File 2).

The Hunger Games Book One Review

The Hunger Games Book One Review In The Hunger Games, author Suzanne Collins has created a fascinating dystopian world. The Hunger Games is a compelling novel focusing on life in an authoritarian society in which young people must compete to the death in the annual Hunger Games. The main character, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, volunteers for the Hunger Games to keep her younger sister from being required to participate and her experiences and fight to survive are the heart of the book. Reading The Hunger Games can lead to interesting discussions about our own world and how reality shows, threats of war, authoritarian governments and obsession with fashion trends influence us daily. Due to the darkness of the story, it is best suited for teens and adults rather than tweens, although many younger kids have read the book or seen the movie or both. Panem: the World of the Hunger Games Trilogy While the creation of Panem is not fully fleshed out until the second book, we know that this authoritarian society was the result of a horrible disaster during the Dark Days, resulting in the establishment of twelve districts under the rule of the government in the Capitol. Peacekeepers and a local government are instituted in each district, but the rulers in the Capitol have strict control over everything and everyone in each district. Each district has its own specialty that benefits the Capitol, such as coal mining, agriculture, seafood, etc. Some districts provide the Capitol with energy or material goods and some provide the manpower to keep those in the Capitol in power. The people who live in the Capitol contribute little to their own sustenance and are concerned mainly with the latest fashions and amusements. The Hunger Games are an annual tradition directed by the Capitol rulers, not only to amuse the citizens  but also to preserve control over the districts by demonstrating the Capitols dominance. Each year, the twelve districts must send two representatives, a girl and a boy, to participate in the Hunger Games. These representatives are called â€Å"tributes† to make people believe that representing their district is an honor, even though each person lives in fear that someone they love will be chosen. And the entire nation must watch as these 24 tributes battle each other to the death until only one is left as the victor. Having a victor is important to a district - extra food and a few luxuries will be granted to the winners district. The government has created the ultimate reality show, complete with technological challenges and constant monitoring of the movements of the participants. Each citizen is required to watch the Games until their conclusion, which may take hours or days. Summary of the  Story Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen has been providing for her family since her father’s death in a mining accident. She has done this by illegally hunting beyond the boundaries of District 12 and using the game she kills for food or for barter. Through her skill with a bow and her ability to track and snare rabbits and squirrels, her family has been able to survive. They have also survived because Katniss signs up for the tessera, a ration of grain that is given in exchange for placing your name in the lottery for the reaping, the ceremony that determines who will be the district’s representative in the Games. Everyone’s name goes in the lottery from the time they reach the age of 12 until they turn 18. Each time Katniss exchanges her name for the tessera, her chances of being the one whose name is called increase. Only it isn’t her name that is called it is her sister’s. Prim Everdeen is the one person that Katniss loves above all others. She is only 12, quiet, loving and on her way to being a healer. She would not be able to survive the reaping and Katniss knows this. When Prim’s name is called, Katniss immediately volunteers to take her place as a tribute from District 12 to the Hunger Games. Katniss knows that it is not only her own life on the line in the games, but that others will benefit as well if she is the victor and her skills as a hunter will give her an edge in the Games. But her life as a tribute becomes more complicated by the other tribute from District 12. Peeta Mellark, the baker’s son, is a boy that Katniss owes a favor because of a kindness that he showed her when she was most desperate and her family’s survival was at stake. And Katniss knows that now her survival will mean his death. Katniss is whisked away from her family and Gale, her best friend and hunting partner, to the Capitol, where she is prepped and primped to participate in the Games. She and Peeta are to be mentored by Haymitch, the only tribute that District 12 has had who was a winner of the Games. But Haymitch is a reluctant and seemingly inadequate mentor, so Katniss realizes she must rely on her own strengths in order to survive. As the first book of the trilogy, The Hunger Games is compelling reading and makes the reader want to read the next book immediately to find out what happens to Katniss and Peeta. Katniss is a strong character who solves her own problems and takes charge of her own life. Her struggles with her divided affections between two boys are realistically portrayed but not overwrought. And her tendency to inadvertently create problems can spark many conversations about whether she was right or wrong and whether she stayed true to who she is. Katniss is a character that readers will not soon forget. About the Author, Suzanne Collins With the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins, award-winning author of the Underland Chronicles, brings her talents to a new trilogy aimed at a more mature audience than her books about Gregor, the Overlander. Collins was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2010, an honor that was based on the popularity of the first two books in the Hunger Games trilogy. In its popularity and impact, the trilogy has been compared to other popular fantasy novels for young people, such as the Twilight series and the Harry Potter series. Collins’ experience as a television writer enables her to create stories that appeal to tweens and teens. Suzanne Collins also wrote the screenplay for the movie adaptations of The Hunger Games. Review and Recommendation The Hunger Games will appeal to teens, ages 13 and up. The 384-page book contains violence and strong emotions so younger tweens may find it disturbing. The writing is excellent and the plot propels the reader through the book at a rapid rate. This book has been chosen by Kansas State University to be given to all of the incoming freshmen to read so that they will all be able to discuss it throughout the campus and in their classes. It has also become assigned reading in many high schools. The book is rich in discussion points not only about governments, personal freedom, and sacrifice but also about what it means to be yourself and not submit to society’s expectations. For information on challenges to the book, see The Hunger Games Trilogy. (Scholastic Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780439023481) Edited March 5, 2016 by Elizabeth Kennedy Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our  Ethics Policy.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Essay Example

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Essay Example The Unbearable Lightness of Being Paper The Unbearable Lightness of Being Paper The Unbearable Lightness of Being, a film set in 1968 Prague, is a story of a love triangle between three main characters: Tomas, Teresa, and Sabina. Tomas and Sabina have always had a sort of love between one another as they have been making love quite some time, while Tomas also has Teresa, whom he meets on a trip out of town, and soon marries. The couples battle this love for one another, knowing that there is something deeper within this love triangle. Tomas, a surgeon living in Prague, is a persistent womanizer, unable to resist his unending stream of meaningless sexual flings with multiple and yet anonymous women. Tomas has his way with women, and having such good looks, he doesn’t have a hard time getting their attention and convincing them to take off their clothes. Tomas doesn’t have a desire or tendency to change throughout the film. There are points that Tomas gives the suggests that he is going to put away his womanizing ways and be with Teresa, the one who he is married to, yet in the end, he still has the two women, Teresa and Sabina. Tomas is happy with his sexual flings with Sabina and his unending love with Teresa. Teresa, characterizing herself as weak, is in love with Tomas. She doesn’t condemn Tomas for his adultery once they are married, even though she knows it is going on. She looks to Tomas as stronger than her, and Teresa envies what Tomas has with these women. Teresa makes the statement that she wants to understand what Tomas feels when he is making love to other women. Teresa changes continuously through the course of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, as she is forced to recognize the impossibility of her youthful dreams. Teresa comes to admire her adversary Sabina and feels Sabinas powerful sensuality; although she knows Sabina is Tomass beloved mistress. Just as Tomas must question his lightness, Teresa must also question her heaviness. Sabina, in contrast, represents extreme lightness of being. Faced with the ugliness and kitsch early in life, from her fathers repressive masculine home to the oppressive art styles pressed at her art school, Sabina declares war on the ugly and unoriginal through her paintings and lifestyle. The love affair Tomas and Sabina share is due to their mutual lightness. Teresa draws the attention from the moment she steps on the scene. Teresa is a unique character who only loves Tomas. Tomas is completely betraying the commitment made with Teresa through marriage as he chooses to continue in sexual acts with Sabina. One can sympathize with Teresa and her desire to be the only thing Tomas wants. Teresa dreams that Tomas drags her into a room as he is making love with Sabina and forces her to watch. Though Teresa suggests that this is what she wants, it is apparent she doesn’t really. Teresa only wants Tomas to want her completely and not desire other women. Tomas, as the womanizer, battles with the desire to be with Sabina, but to still love Teresa. It is apparent that Tomas truly loves and cares for Teresa, and this can be a redeeming characteristic, but the idea that he is not willing to let go of Sabina completely for his wife is a let-down. It is interesting how these characters, though so far apart, come together in the end. Teresa and Tomas have an emotional bond while Sabina and Tomas only have a physical bond. Tomas and Sabina do not share the same bond emotionally that Teresa and Tomas share. Tomas can only have sex with a woman and then leave, but when Teresa comes to Tomas’ house, she sleeps over. Tomas obviously has let his guard from women down at this point because the feelings he feels for Teresa are more than just sexual desires. Whereas, when Tomas and Sabina participate in sexual acts, the bowler hat plays a key role. Without the hat, Tomas and Sabina don’t engage in sex. The scene when Tomas visits Sabina at her house and goes to leave, but turns around to see Sabina with the hat on which instantly makes him want to be with her, proves the connection is through the erotic toys and not true love. A connection between Teresa and Sabina begins when Teresa visits Sabina for her photo shoot. Near the end of the shoot there is a physical bond between Teresa and Sabina, when they are both naked playing around with one another. When Teresa enters Sabina’s home, she knows that there are sexual things going on between Sabina and Tomas, and when she sees the unmade bed, it is at that point very clear to her. Sabina and Teresa share a physical touch during this scene that really defines the love triangle. Though Tomas, Sabina, and Teresa never interact as a group, their interactions play on one another. Teresa knows that Tomas is sexually active with other women and Sabina is suspected. This interaction between Tomas and Sabina affects the marriage between Teresa and Tomas as they try to have a marriage based on one another, but can’t since Tomas is looking outside of the marriage for sexual desires. When Teresa and Tomas pick out the puppy together, this puppy is a representation of their marriage together. They have a living thing bonding them together, such as children. This puppy is important in the relationship between Tomas and Teresa throughout the film, and in the end we see the death of the puppy and how that simple thing brings Tomas and Teresa together. Teresa and Tomas are married, Tomas and Sabina are lovers, and a slight relationship between Teresa and Sabina is addressed. This is interesting how three people can carry on such an intense relationship and not have extreme jealousy over one another. Teresa is the most interesting character in this film. Teresa knows the true meaning of life and she understands the beauty in life. Teresa connects with her photography in a way that reveals the essence and beauty behind everyday life. When Teresa takes pictures at the invasion, the pictures are of what is going on. Each individual photo has a purpose and a deep meaning other than the invasion. Teresa knows that she loves Tomas, but she learns that she can’t depend on him completely, that is why she leaves and returns home. Teresa says that she is a burden on Tomas and just a heavy weight on him. She sees how free and light Tomas takes his life, and she knows she is not that way. Teresa cherishes the simple things in life, such as her photography. Teresa falls instantly in love with Tomas because he is reading a novel when he enters the cafe. Growing up with a vulgar mother and in a town where no one reads, Teresa sees the book as a symbol or a way that she can recognize and relate with Tomas in a way that she can’t anyone else. The book remains their point of connection, as they name their dog, their only mutual possession and responsibility, after a character in the book Teresa was reading the first day they were together. Teresa notices the small things and cherishes it all. Teresa looks at life as something much more worthy than Tomas, who cherishes women and who he is going to get to take off their clothes next. Teresa catches an eye in the film and keeps the audience interested in her the entire time. The audience can relate to her feelings in a way that is more difficult to do so with Tomas and Sabina. Teresa is the most appealing character and views life as worthy and cherished other than disposable and worthless. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, a film of a very intense love triangle between three characters in Prague, is filled with symbols of love, adultery, and emotion. The film is a discussion of lightness versus heaviness and which role each character has against the other. The sexuality in the film is never too much because without it the film would be meaningless and serve no purpose. Though sometimes the audience doesn’t understand the purpose of the sex in any given scene, there is deeper meaning behind it.