Descartes & Hume Essay Example for Free

Descartes Hume Essay Rene Descartes was a rationalist, meaning he thought that reason alone, not sensation or experience, was the source to attaining knowledge about the eternal truths of the universe, such as mathematics, epistemology, metaphysics and the existence of God. He excluded physics from this list, admitting that knowledge of physics only comes through experience (Descartes). Regardless, his rationalistic epistemology made it so that Descartes could only accept the truth about something if it was based upon a principle that was clearly and distinctly certain. Innate, a priori knowledge is fundamental to Descartes philosophy. A priori refers to any knowledge that is attained without appealing to sensation (O’Connor, Class Notes). Being a rationalist, he completely doubted every sensory experience he had ever had. Sensation is ever-changing and sometimes misleads or deceives us, so according to Descartes, trusting in an experience of sensation to provide us with any kind of universal truth would be foolish (Descartes). Whereas rationalism directly focuses on reason as being the only way to attain knowledge about the world, empiricism concentrates fully on all knowledge being a posteriori, or attained through experience and sensation. In an obvious way, David Hume’s empiricist epistemology directly contrasted Descartes rationalism, specifically by how he believed humans can attain knowledge. According to Hume, humans understand the world by experiencing different perceptions: impressions/sensations and ideas/thoughts. The amount of force and vivacity of the perception allows humans to differentiate between the two. Impressions and sensations are more forceful and lively since they are a product of direct experience. Ideas and thoughts are simply weak recreations of the original impressions that were perceived. While Descartes believes that certain ideas are innate, such as the existence of God, Hume absolutely denies the possibility of innate ideas. He claims that humans could never fully know or comprehend anything beyond our impressions. If an impression is not perceived, then it cannot be acknowledged. Since our knowledge is limited to the impressions we perceive, we have no real way of comprehending causality, instead it is often confused with correlation. Cause and effect events tend to occur in close temporal order, but that does not mean we can know whether those events are intrinsically related or not. Instead, we can only place our faith in the customs and habits of human life. Oppositely, Descartes believed we gain knowledge a priori, and we can only know that which we have clear and distinct justification for. In order to justify what we know, we cannot appeal to anything except for reason. Lastly, we must judge those justified ideas by applying Descartes’ specific and logical method of reflection. Thusly, by accepting Descartes’ method, the universal and eternal truths of the world can be known.

Properties of Dopamine in Chemistry

Properties of Dopamine in Chemistry Chapter 2. Literature Review 2.1 Introduction In recent years, natural adhesion has attracted increasing attention in the material engineering field. This can be mainly attributed to the marine mussel as it has a strong ability to attach to various surfaces in an aqueous environment where they reside. These surfaces vary from natural to synthetic, and inorganic to organic.[49-51] Previous studies on the mussel adhesive protein have discovered that 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine-lysine sequences, may be the main contributor for the versatile nature of the marine mussel.[52, 53] Dopamine, having a similar structure with this sequence, may provide a new platform for bioengineers to physically or chemically enhance the performance of other biomaterials. Several papers have already been published regarding the use of dopamine to augment other biomaterials, such as poly (ethylene glycol), carbon nanotubes and nanofibers. The first part of this review will briefly introduce the basic properties of dopamine which will be followed by its applications 2.2 Properties of Dopamine Dopamine’s properties can be divided into chemical and adhesive properties. The chemical properties mainly focus on the autopolymerization in aerated basic solutions and polymerization of dopamine based on vinyl groups. The adhesive property is dopamine’s most significant feature which gives dopamine its advantage as a biomaterial. 2.2.1 Chemical Properties 2.2.1.1 Autopolymerization in Aerated Basic Solutions Messersmith and coworkers first reported that dopamine is able to auto-polymerize in aired Tris buffer of pH 8.5.[8]. The process of dopamine autopolymerization with a pre-existing substrate results in polydopamine (PDA) films being deposited on the substrate surface. Longer substrate exposure times and higher reaction temperatures result in thicker PDA films being formed.[54] Regardless of the surface type, the inserted PDA films can be coated on the desired surface, even poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE), known for its anti-adhesive property.[8] 2.2.1.2 Polymerization of Dopamine Based on Vinyl Groups Polymers carrying pendant dopamine are normally obtained by radical polymerization of vinyl monomers with protected or unprotected dopamine. When meditating protected dopamine carried by polymers with double bone, borax (Na2B4O7 ·10H2O) is widely used as the protecting reactant in order to keep dopamine from forming an annular bidentate catechol subunit.[55] Normally, the polymerized reaction of protected dopamine happens in a liquid solution and forms linear chains. Deprotection reaction usually occurs in an acidic environment and results in the polymer carrying dopamine. Dimolybdenum trioxide[56], 1-dromotoluene[57] and denzophenone chloride[58] can also be used as protecting agents. Zhang et al.[59] designed a novel polymer poly (n-acryloyl dopamine) that possesses high adhesion to wood, especially when mixed with polyethylenimine (PEI) at about 150 °C. They used a protected double bond dopamine as a monomer and 2,2’-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) as an initiator via rad ical polymerization, following the deprotection of dopamine in an acid solution. When meditating unprotected dopamine, Lee BP et al.[60] was the first to report a creative hydrogel that copolymerizes modified dopamine with double bond and polyethylene glycol diacrylate via photo initiation by using a 2,20-dimethoxy-2-phenyl-acetonephenone (DMPA) initiator. As a result of this invention, greater attention has been given to hydrogels as a new artificial extracellular matrix (ECM) in the biomedical field. Dopamine belongs to the catechol family which leads to vinyled dopamine to act as an inhibitor.[61, 62], as a result they can react with radicals to inhibit polyreaction. The unprotected dopamine, modified with a vinyl group, is able to undergo free-radical polymerization. Several researches have done this experiment on radical polymerization to prove the reliability of this method.[63-75] The research group led by Metin Sitti, copolymerized a dopamine derivate (dopamine meth-acrylami de) with methoxyethylaceylate to obtain a reversible adhesion on the surface of nonflat glass under dry or wet condition.[65] In another publication, 2-(meth-acryloyloxy) ethyl phosphate was used to copolymerize with dopamine methacrylamide, followed by a complicated cohesion in which the copolymer bonded with positively charged polymer, divalent calcium and magnesium.[71] The chemical properties of dopamine provide the platform of its strong adhesive properties. 2.2.2 Adhesive Property The adhesive property of dopamine is one of the most significant properties of dopamine as it has proved to be very versatile in adhering to various surfaces despite the surface chemistry. The bonding between dopamine and surfaces can be generally distributed to two parts: covalent and non-covalent.[10] Surfaces which possess amine groups or thiol groups can covalently bind to dopamine via Michael addition or Schiff base reactions. However since most surfaces don’t have those groups, non-covalent bonding, like H-bond, Ï€-Ï€ interaction and benzenediolcharge-transfer compounds are preferred to generate a valid layer and metallic chelating.[7, 53, 76-87] In a high pH environment, metal ions and medal oxides have a high chance of being hydroxylated or hydrated, which make chelate with catechol groups of dopamine much easier. This can be seen from many experiments done on polydopamine linking with metal oxides (such as Fe2O3, Fe4O3, ZrO2) through chelating bonding interaction.[82, 84, 85] This can be seen when polydopamine nanoparticle suspensions are added to a solution of KMnO4 with H2SO4. A core-shell nanoparticle structure is created in which the polydopamine act as the core and MnO2 act as shell, followed by blending the KOH solution to obtain MnO2 nanospheres. This ad hesive property of dopamine provides promising opportunities for new bioengineered materials. 2.2.3 CNT For decades, carbon nanotubes (CNT) have been attracting increasing attention because of their superior features, such as thermal conductivity, excellent tensile strength and remarkable conductivity. They have been applied in various different areas, from sensors to catalysis, and from semiconductors to inductors for osteocytes. In order for CNTs to have a wide range of applications, surface modification is necessary. However, during this modification various intermediate reactions steps are required which increase the complexity of the CNT’s fabrication. Dopamine modification has been viewed as an promising alternative, leading to a coated multifunctional CNT with a polymeric shell that has tunable thickness by time, pH value and temperature.[88] The dopamine coating facilitates the addition of alternate modifications to the surface of CNTs, such as gold nanoparticles.[88] What’s more, CNTPDAs, first, were modified with ATRP initiator and then polymerized with diethyla mine methacrylateto to form brushes polymer — poly (dimethylamine-thyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) on the surface.[89] Following that the functionalized CNT were quaternized in order to combine palladium nanoparticles on the CNTs’ surface. These two examples indicate the capability of dopamine coated CNTs to bind to metal complexes. 2.3 Applications There are many different applications in which dopamine could be applied in; three of them will be the focus here including applications in hydrogels, nanofibers, and biosening. These fields are of great interest currently as they show great promise for dopamine in bioengineering. 2.3.1 Hydrogel The need of a viscous hydrogel, as a unique material, is dramatically increasing in various biomedical fields. The high performance requirements of adhesive hydrogels are strict and various. This includes being sufficiently adhesive in a wet environment, satisfactory elasticity of artificial tissue scaffold and biocompatible.[60, 90] Moreover, biomedical hydrogels also need a quick sol-gel conversion for avoiding surgical obstruction. Recently, adhesive hydrogel, inspired by strong wet adhesion of mussel and cross-bonding capabilities of dopamine, has been attracted increasing attention and considered as a hopeful candidate to fulfill this technologic niche.[91] Messersmith et al.[92] reported the creation of four different adhesive hydrogels using dopamine derivative (L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA)) as end-groups and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as a backbone. The difference of these four hydrogels can be divided into 2 subcategories, linear network and branched network. They applied multiple-angle laser light scattering to study the influences of different oxidative reagents on DOPA oxidation and hydrogel formation. The result showed that gelation time of PEG-DOPA gels relied on oxidative reagents, such as concentration and type. In Lee H.’s report, they also used DOPA and PEG to form hydrogels, but this time they used DOPA modified with methacryloyl chloride and PEG diacrylate instead of pure DOPA and PEG. In order to avoid introducing toxicity of oxidative reagent to the hydrogels and any loss of adhesion, the hydrogels underwent UV initiation.[60] These photo-imitated gels demonstrate appreciable elastic properties for use as a promising biomedical material. Using a similar method Phillip B. Messersmith’s research group also synthesized an adhesive hydrogel, prepared by copolymerizing DOPA with hydrophobic segments of an amphiphilic block copolymer under photo-imitation. The adhesive property of the hydrogel was surprisingly improved in the presence of DOPA in wet condition. The elasticity of the hydrogel was found to be similar to that of soft tissues leading to consider it as a encouraging candidate for biomaterial.[93] Further research conducted by Messersmith and coworkers focused on the biological capabilities of dopamine-PEG adhesive gels. In 2010 they reported that DOPA as end-caps covalently bonded with an amine-terminated 4-arm PEG. The PEG was the core in which oxidative reagents (NaIO4) were added to form an adhesive hydrogel in less than 1 minute.[94] The results of the in vivo test, performed in a murine model, showed the adhesive gels caused minimal inflammation and were stably interfaced with the surrounding tissues for more than 24 months. To form a catena degradable adhering polymer, three materials were reacted to form a semblable branched polymer, including dopamine derivative as end-group, PEG and polycaprolactone (PCL) as a backbone.[95] These polymers are able to form films whose properties, such as swelling capacity and biodegradation, were flexible by changing the ratio, or concentration of these reactants or by adding other additive agents. After coating these adhesive polymer s on a biologic meshes, stronger water-resistant was exhibited when compared with fibrin sealant or cyanoacrylated polymers.[95] Applications for this biomaterial can be extended in the surgical field for hernia repair. Stewart’s group published several papers about adhesive hydrogels based on complex cohesion. In 2010 they created a bio-mimic hydrogel blending with revised gelatin and a copolymer which is obtained by a dopamine derivative reacting with monoacryloxyethyl phosphate in an alkaline condition.[71] The addition of Ca2+ and Mg2+ to the bio-mimic hydrogel could significantly improve the coacervation of the hydrogel, which was applied to tune agglomeration temperature to body temperature. The result demonstrated that the cohesion interaction was biodegradable, perfectly suited for medical applications. In another similar research, an adhesive hydrogel was synthesized by complicated cohesion of a positively charged copolymer and a terpolymer involving a dopamine derivative when its pH was higher than 4.[70] The bonding property of the hydrogel to hydroxylapatite was around 40% of common cyanoacrylate glue. T.G. Park’s group developed a temperature sensitive and injectable tissu e-attachable hydrogel.[96] The hydrogel was synthesized by conjugating hyaluronic acid and dopamine, following by cross-linking with thiol tail-ended Pluronic F127 via Michael addition. The hydrogel precursor exists at room temperature, and a cured hydrogel is formed when brought to a temperature of 37 °C. In a later paper, they used a similar strategy forming hydrogel by blending a dopamine derivative modified chitosan with thiol-capped Pluronic F127 at body temperature.[97] The adjustable gelation time of this block copolymer made it suitable for tissue-repair at 37 °C. The resulting hydrogel dedicated excellent in vivo results, where chitosan served as hemostatic agent and dopamine derivative group acted as adhesive agent to soft tissues. 2.3.2 Nanofiber Tissue engineering tends to use nanofiberous biomaterials instead of a micropores matrix since the filiform and polyporous nanolevel structure allow for artificial extracellular matrix to enhance the fundamental cellular procedures.[98] Nanotechnology reformation have aided in the development of techniques for the production of such a nano-composite materials. Electro-spinning has recently obtained increasing attention, attributing to its briefness and facility for nanofiber fabrication. Through this technique, fibrous structures are easily tuned in order to coordinate it with the extracellular matrix (ECM).[99, 100] So far, this technique has been studied in a range of biological fields, such as bone and skin regeneration. The artificial polymer ECMs usually have difficulties with interfaced reactions between tissues and materials.[101] For electro-spinning nanofibers in applications of biomedicine, it is necessary to physically and chemically combine them with biomolecules or cell-recognizing ligands.[102] This subsequently provides bio-modulating or biomimetic micro- environments to contacting cells and tissues. Dopamine coating can be considered as a simple and versatile approach to modify various synthetic polymers so that they are able to serve in biomedical applications.[49-51] Ku and coworkers[103] firstly reported culturing human endothelial cells on a polydopamine treated electro-spun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofiber membrane. They used two control groups, pure PCL nanofibers and PCL nanofibers coated with gelatin, to investigate the ability of cell attachment of dopamine. The result of the water contact angle demonstrated that polydopamine uniformly was coated on the PCL nanofibers. Polydopam ine also significantly improve endothelial cells’ attachment on the nanofiber, compared with other non-adhesive substrates. Moreover, endothelial cells culture on PCL nanofibers coated by dopamine had developed cytoskeleton, positive PECAM-1 and vWF expressions and high cell extend.Rim and coworkers[104] designed dopamine functionalized electro-spinning poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) nanofibers with minimal influence on its mechanical performances, like wetting capability and roughness. The polydopamine coated PLLA nanofibers significantly enhanced cell attachment and the degree of spread, contradistinguishing with pure PLLA nanofibers. Meanwhile, its fibrous morphology had changed to more of a polygon shape instead of sphere after the polydopamine coating, which lead to higher DNA content of polydopamine treated PLLA nanofibers. The higher gene expressions of cells cultivated on polydopamine treated fibers indicated better osteogenic differentiation and vasculogenesis. Extensive research regarding the chemical or physical coating of metal on the surface of scaffolds to increase tensile strength has been done.[105] Jungki Ryu et al.[106] used dopamine to process hydroxyapatite deposits on PCL nanofiber by coating it. The result demonstrated a combination of surface activation through dopamine coating and hydroxyapatite mineralization allowing the hybridization of various shapes and surfaces. In other reported, Xie and coworkers[107] considered dopamine as a ‘superglue’, allowing minerals to easily attach to fibrous surfaces. The mechanical properties of mineral functionalized electro-pinning PCL nanofibers, such as stiffness, durability and tensile strength, were near to that of natural bone. Dopamine coated nanofibers show an improvement on existed biomaterials such as their mechanical performances, and cell adhesion. This makes them quite suitable for tissue regeneration and other related bioengineering applications. 2.3.3 Biosensing There is an enormous demand to design highly sensitive and selective biosensors for multiple applications, such as diagnostics, drug screening, and drug discovery.[108] Biosensors usually are in the microscale or nanoscale[109] and there are numerous methods to develop them, such as DNA[110] and antibody-based sensor[111, 112]. Scientists employ dopamine in order to optimize biosensor’s capabilities which have been reported by several research groups. Lui and coworkers first reported that dopamine could be used in a biosensor.[113] They used electricity to oxidize dopamine to form polydopamine on a gold electric pole with existing nicotine. The dopamine-imprinted sensor showed outstanding selectiveness of nicotine and excellent repeatability. Furthermore, Ouyang and coworkers developed a one-step well-defined structure of a dopamine-imprinted sensor.[114] They applied electro-polymerization of o-phenylenediamine (o-PD) and dopamine with existing glutamic acid (Glu). By using a potentiostatic time scan, the sensor exhibited satisfactory stereo selectiveness of bonding L- or D-Glu because their relative synthetic receptor. In a different publication, they designed protein imprinted nanowires which dopamine was also involved.[115] First, the protein-coupled alumina membrane was immersed in dopamine solution followed by an ammonium persulfate solution in order to self-polymerize polydopamine; in which afterward the removal of the atta ched protein is necessary. The nanowires demonstrated constant bonding capability and selectiveness of template proteins due to their cavity structure with bonding spots (like amino group, hydroxyl, Ï€-Ï€ stacking and van der Waals force) that can bind with protein. In another research, Zhou et al. display the creation of magnetic nanoparticles coated by imprinted polymer with a pre-existing template protein.[116] The nanoparticles are able to separate target protein from the mixture. In order to investigate the versatility of the imprinted nanoparticles, they operated on a binding test by using five different proteins excluding the template protein. The result indicated that more than 80% of target proteins were rebinding with imprinted nanoparticles, suggesting imprinted nanoparticles have a bright future to be employed for separating and detecting specific protein. One of the greatest difficulties for biosensors is how to immobilize enzymes on the surface of an electric pole and preserve the enzymes’ functionalities. Wei et al. designed a novel glucose electrochemical sensor, prepared by using a polydopamine film to entrap glucose oxidase and gold nanoparticles.[117] Their research displayed a polydopamine matrix embedded with gold nanoparticles that had high efficiency of immobilizing glucose oxidase. The dopamine film embedded gold nanoparticle biosensor showed a superior sensitivity, good repeatability, linear over broad dynamic range and a low detective threshold. Furthermore, in order to assess adaptability of this sensor, they use it to test glucose concentration in attenuated human serum. The result suggested this biosensor is an attractive material for clinical applications

Medicinal Properties of Fruits for Cancer

Medicinal Properties of Fruits for Cancer ABSTRACT Cancer a disease with high morbidity and mortality rates is a challenge to human life. The current therapeutic strategies are associated with adverse effects which necessitates alternate treatment with less adverse effects. In addition to this cancer prevention is desirable which has lead to a new concept called biochemoprevention. In this regard, medicinal properties of plants can be exploited for cancer prevention and management as they can be procured cost effectively and are less likely to produce adverse effects as they are diet derived. This article reviews the phytochemicals and evidence based preventive and therapeutic effects of some commonly used plants with medicinal properties against cancer. Key words: Cancer, phytochemicals, medicinal properties of plants, biochemoprevention. INTRODUCTION Cancer continues to be a challenge to human life as the disease has high morbidity and mortality rates. Though surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy remain the â€Å"Gold Standard† measures of cancer therapy they are associated with adverse effects. Despite the recent advances in therapeutic strategies, the five year survival rate of one of the most commonly occurring cancer like oral cancer is as low as 62% with no improvement in the quality of life of the affected individuals1. Hence a treatment modality with less adverse effects will be of great benefit to the affected patients. Also research in the field of oncology has lead to better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis that has revealed that caner is a largely preventable disease. Hence a new concept called biochemoprevention has evolved not only to prevent but also combat the shortcomings of cancer therapy. Chemoprevention or biochemoprevention refers to pharmacological intervention with syntheti c or natural compounds that may prevent, inhibit or reverse carcinogenesis. The use of medicinal plants for the management of various diseases including cancer has been carried out several hundred years ago during the period of Charaka, the Father of Medicine and Susrutha, the Father of Surgery. With the advent of Modern medicine, traditional medicine has lost its importance. Hence the medicinal properties of plants which are our natural resources must be re- explored to prevent and treat cancer. The advantages of utilizing medicinal properties of plants for cancer prevention and management include easy availability, cost effective and less likely to produce side effects as most of these plants or plant parts are diet derived. This article highlights evidence based preventive and therapeutic effects of some commonly used plants with medicinal properties against cancer. REVIEW NEEM Azadirachta indica commonly known as neem in English and Vembu in Tamil is native to our country and is known for several medicinal properties including antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiabetic. It also finds its use in preparation of cosmetics, tooth brush, fertilizer, and tooth brush. This could be attributed to more than 140 compounds present in various parts of the plant. Recently research has been carried out to demonstrate the antineoplastic effects of this plant. Ethanolic extract of neem leaves caused both reduction in tumor size and decrease in tumor progression even after cessation of treatment with neem extract in N methyl N nitrosurea induced mammary tumors in Sprague Drawley rats. Molecular analysis revealed upregulation of proapoptotic genes and proteins such as p53, Bcl2 (B cell lymphoma 2), Bax, Caspases, PTEN (Phosphatase and tensin homologe), JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinases) and down regulation of oncogenes such as VEGF (Vascular endothelial growth factor), CDK1 (cycl in dependent kinase 1),Nuclear factor kappa B (NF kappa B), MAP 1 (mitogen activated protein kinase 1).2Glycoproteins present in neem leaves also exert anti- cancer effects by restricting tumor growth in murine, These proteins alter tumor microenvironment by increasing CD 8 T (cluster of differentiation ) cells, protect T cells from Anergy, decrease activation induced T cell death by decreasing expression of FAsR. (FAS receptor) Cytotoxicity of sarcoma cells were caused due to increased expression of performin, granzyme B in lymphocytes3. These results shed light on the fact that neem extracts posses immunomodulatory effects hence aid in targeted therapy against malignant cells, sparing normal cells. Hence these extracts are less likely to produce side effects. TULASI Oscimum sanctum commonly known as Tulasi in Tamil and Holy basil in English is a sacred plant of Hinduism. The aromatic plant has several medicinal properties and has been used several thousand years ago for the management of various diseases and ailments like common cold, fever, acne, headache, stress, aphthous ulcers, asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis, ecema. It also has been used as an expectorant for management of cough, antimicrobial agent in preventing diarrhoea, analgesic for pain management. Other medicinal properties include immunomoduation, hypolipidemic and hepatoprotective. Phytochemical constituents that confer these properties are oleanic acid, urosolic acid, rosmatinic acid, eugenol, carvacol, linalool, beta carophyllene, beta elemene, germaserene. Oscimum sanctum possesses cancer preventive and therapeutic properties. Important phytochemicals such as eugenol, rosmarinic acid, apigenin, silosterol, carnosic acid, lutrolen, myrtenal present in tulasi prevent chemical ind uced cancers of skin, lung, oral cavity, liver by induction of apoptosis, prevention of angiogenesis and metastasis, antioxidant activity and alteration of genes4. Flavonoids such as ornitine, vicenin, protect normal tissue from therapeutic radiation and prevent radiation induced mortality in mice. Eugenol, rosmarinic acid and apigenin present in Holy basil prevent radiation induced DNA (deoxy ribonucleic acid) damage thereby acting as chemopreventive agent. Tulasi exerts radioprotective effects in oral cancer by causing significant reduction of glutathione in erythrocytes of oral cancer patients who were treated with radiotherapy and flavonoids of Oscimum sanctum in comparison with oral cancer patients who received only radiotherapy.5 ALLIUM VEGETABLES Allium vegetables like onion are used as flavouring and seasoning agent for food in many countries6. Interestingly two species of onion viz red onion (Allium cepa) and yellow onion (Allium flavum) possess medicinal properties. Bulb of Allium cepa contains flavonoids such as anthrocyanins and dihydroflavonols7. The sulphur containing active constituent of onion bulb occur mainly in the form of s alkaline cysteine sulfoxides which decompose into thiosulfinates and polysulfides8. Thiosulfinates are volatile sulphur compounds responsible for the pungent odour and medicinal properties9. Onion exerts chemopreventive activity. The ethyl acetate extract of onion has been shown to induce apoptosis in human breast cancer cell lines10. It also inhibits fatty acid synthase and lipid accumulation in adipocytes, thereby preventing obesity, one of the predisposing factors for breast cancer11. Yellow onion (Allium flavum) also has anticancer activity Allium flavum extract has significant phenolic content, antioxidant, antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillius subtilis and antiproliferative activity against HCT cell lines (Homo sapiens colorectal carcinoma cell lines)12. PINEAPPLE Annamas cosmous or pineapple is a tropical plant of Bromadiaceae family. Edible portion of this plant is the fruit which is made of coalesced berries. Pineapple has been used in South America, China, South East Asia for the management of various ailments like inflammation, burns as it exerts medicinal properties like anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, fibrinolytic, inhibition of platelet aggregation and skin debridement. In 1957, Bromelain was identified as the active principle present in the stem and unripe fruits of pineapple exerting the above mentioned activities. Bromelain, is a mixture of proteases13. Bromelain alters molecular pathways of carcinogenesis, tumor microenvironment hence could be used as an anticancer agent. Bromelain also exerts anticancer effects by immunomodulation and hemostatic mechasnism14. Pineapple extract in stage 2 mouse skin tumorigenesis model cause reduction in tumor size (65%) and volume. Molecular analysis revealed upregulation of p53,Bax,, caspase 3 ,9 and downregulation of Bcl2, inhibition of COX 2( cyclooxygenase 2), inactivation of NF kappa B (nuclear factor kappa B), MAP(mitogen activated protein linase) kinase, Erk (extracellular-signal-regulated kinases ) and Akt (protein kinase B)15,16. CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES Brassica oleracea belongs to the family Brassiaceae which are commonly known as cruciferous vegetables. In uncultivated form it is called as wild cabbage and is native to Europe. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea capita), Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea botrytis), Brocoli (Brassica oleraceaitalica) are some of the varieties of wild cabbage developed by various cultivars. These cruciferous vegetables are a part of diet in many countries including India. Recently research has been carried out to assess the phytochemical constituents and medicinal properties of these vegetables17. The leaves of Cabbage contain 2 pyrolidinone which has been isolated and identified by gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and High Performance liquid chromatography. This active constituent induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in GO/G1 phase in HeLa ( cervical cancer cell line taken from Henrietta Lacks) and BC-3 cell lines (body cavity-based lymphoma cell line ), hence possesses antitumor activity.18 Brassica o leracea also contains glucosinoates which on hydrolysis yields isothicyanates that exerts antineoplastic effects. Surforaphane is one such isothiocyanate that causes downregulation of Bcl2 and upregulation of p53, Bax, Caspase 3 in Hep 2 cell lines ( He La derivative )19. Isothicyanates has chemopreventive effects. These isothiocyanates modulate carcinogen metabolising enzymes, thereby limit formation of reactive intermediates that from DNA adducts. Both intact glucosinolates and isothiocyantes modulate Phase II detoxification enzymes such as Quinone reductases, GST,( Glutathione-S-transferases) EH (Epoxide hydrolase), UGT (Uridine 5-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase). Intact glucosinolates modulate CYP cytochrome P450 enzymes line EROD (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase) , MROD (ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase). Isothicyanates and glucosinolates like Phenyl isothiocyanates, erucin, sulforaphone are antagonists of Aryl hydrocarcobon receptor hence aid in cancer prevention17. APPLE Apple, the pomaceous fruit of Malus domestica tree belongs to the family Rosaceae. Malas sieversi, ancestor of this species is native to the mountains of Central Asia. It is one of the oldest known fruit that prevents lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease (CVD), thrombosis and stroke. Polyphenols and flavonoids, the phytochemical constituents of apple fruit have antioxidant properties. The phytochemical components of apple can act as chemopreventive agent due to the antioxidant and antiproliferative property20. Triterpenoids of apple peel possesses antitumor activity. 2R-hydroxy-3à ¢-{[(2E)-3-phenyl-1-oxo-2-propenyl]oxy}olean-12-en-28-oic acid, 2R-hydroxyursolic acid and 3à ¢-trans-p-coumaroyloxy-2R-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid , the triterpenoids isolated from apple peel exerts higher antitumor activity against HepG2 cell lines. Ursolic acid, 3à ¢-transp-coumaroyloxy-2R-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid and 2R-hydroxyursolic acid are the terpenoids that has higher antineoplastic activity against MCF-7 (Michigan Cancer Foundation-7) cancer cells. Terpenoids such as 2R-hydroxy-3à ¢-{[(2E)-3-phenyl-1-oxo-2- propenyl]oxy}olean-12-en-28-oic acid, 2R-hydroxyursolic acid, maslinic acid, and 3à ¢-trans-p-coumaroyloxy-2R-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid has higher anticancer effects against heterogeneoushumanepithelialcolorectaladenocarcinomacells (Caco2) cancer cells. Apple peel extracts exert anticancer effects by causing Go/G1 cell cycle arrest, decreasing expression of Proliferating cell nuclear antigen, increasing the levels of the tumor suppressor protein mapsin in human prostrate and breast carcinoma cells21,22. PAPAYA Carcia papaya commonly known as papaya of the family Caricaceae is cultivated throughout India. Leaves of papaya have been used to treat diseases and aliments like jaundice, asthma, colic, fever, beri beri. Recent studies have demonstrated that papaya leaf extracts could be used for cancer management. Significant growth inhibitory activity of Carica papaya leaf extract on a couple of cell lines including Raji and Ramos (Burkitt’s lymphoma cell lines) , Jurkat (T cell Lymphoma cell line), HepG2 and Huh-7 (hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines), K562 (chronic myelogenous leukemia cell line) PC14 (lung adenocarcinoma cell line), HeLa (cervical carcinoma cell line, Panc-1 (pancreatic epithelioid carcinoma cell line), Capan1 (pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line), ARH77 (plasma cell leukemia cell line), H2452 (mesothelioma cell line) , Karpas-299 (anaplastic large cell lymphoma cell line), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma cell line). Treatment of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBC) with the extract caused increased production of antitumour cytokines with no change in viability of the cells. In addition, the peipheral blood mononuclear cells treated with the extract had increased cytotoxic activity against chronic mylogenous lukemia cell line23. Thus Carcia papaya exterts antitumour activity through grwoth inhibitory and immmunomodulatory mechanisms. This property could be attributed to the active constituent carpaine present in papaya leaves. Papaya Leaf also contains a remarkable protein-dissolving enzyme called papain that degrades fibrin that makes up the protective layer of cancer cells, making the cancer cells more susceptible to immune response or chemotherapy. Studies have revealed that mice immunized with papain possess serum antibodies which cross-react with cathepsin-B- and cathepsin-H-like endopeptidases isolated from B16 melanoma cells along with inhibition of growth rate, invasion and metastasis in B16 melanoma and the Lewis lung carcinoma .Thus t he compound hinders tumor growth and prevents it from spreading to other parts of the body24. In addition, papaya leaf has antioxidants like beta-carotene, flavonols, and vitamin C that scavenge free radicals which are responsible for carcinogenesis, which act as adjuvant for cancer therapy. Papaya seed has been used for the management of worm infestations in the gastrointestinal tract due to its antihelminthic activity. Papaya seeds contain benzyl isothiocyanate which exhibits antineoplastic effects by inhibiting of carcinogen-activating cytochrome P450 mono-oxygenases and cell cycle progression; inducing carcinogen-detoxifying phase 2 enzyme and apoptosis. Higher concentration of BITC (benzylisothiocyanate) has a better inhibition rate of cell proliferation on H69 cell, with IC(50) value of 6.5 ÃŽ ¼mol/L25. TOMATO Lycopersecon ecsculentum or tomato belongs to the night shade family called Solanaceae. Fleshy fruit of this plant is red in colour which is classified based on size and shape as slicing or globe tomato, beefsteak, oxheart, plum, pear, cherri, carpari. Lycopene is the chief active constituent having antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardiovascular and immunomodulatory effects26. Lycopene is a better singlet oxygen scavenger than other carotenoids. Interestingly tomato leaves has anticancer activity. Extracts of tomato leaves have been shown to exert antineoplastic activity in MCF breast cancer cell lines by causing genetic alterations27. Lycopene promotes cell adhesion by increasing E cadherin expression, reduces cell proliferation by decreasing PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen) expression and confines proliferating cells to the basal and parabasal layer in 4NQQ (4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide )induced tongue carcinogenesis model in mice. Thus Lycopene could be used as a chemopreventive agent28. Bifunctional nucelases from tomato RTBN1 also has antitumor activity29. CONCLUSION Along with attempts to improve cure rate of cancer, concerted efforts to prevent the disease continuity should be undertaken. This is particularly true for the high risk population and high risk individuals. A targeted prevention in high risk individuals with high risk lesions using agents targeted to key molecules in the carcinogenesis process should have an impact in lowering the disease morbidity and mortality. Advances in molecular biology have helped to define these high risk individuals with high risk lesions and novel chemopreventive targets. In this regard targeted approach using medicinal properties of plants should overcome some of the earlier setbacks observed in cancer prevention and therapeutic research.

Role of Religion in Determining the Earths Shape :: Geography

Role of Religion in Determining the Earth's Shape The Greek geographers of the later Roman period developed systematic calculations for the mapping and shaping of the earth. However, what would come to replace these systematic calculations? Why were the ideologies of a flat earth accepted and why were those of a spherical earth ridiculed? The answer to this question is very simple and can be answered by one clear and concise word: Religion. "Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her." (Ezekiel 5:5) This verse from the of book Ezekiel simply states that the city of Jerusalem should be in the center of all maps created. This eliminated the need for any latitude or longitude. Before hand, there had been more than six hundred maps created, not one having this holy city as the center. There was nothing new about putting "the most sacred place at the center" says Boorstin. The Hindus placed Mount Meru, a mythological 70,000 foot high mountain at the center of their map. In the Muslim faith, the Ka'bah in Mecca was the highest point on earth and the polestar showed the city of Mecca to be opposite the center of the sky. As one can clearly see, many maps, had different centers. Each map had a different center, each based on a different religion. Many years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Greeks theorized that the earth was a globe. But after that, there was a period in history called "The Great Interruption." This period was categorized by a complete silence where people in general, forgot about the issue of whether the earth was flat or whether it was a globe. Another reason that brought the theories of a globular world to rest was because the priests told the general public that the earth was flat. Priests such as St. Augustine and others invented the Antipode theory, which stated that a world shaped like a globe is impossible because objects would be hanging downwards and growing backwards. Once again, religion played a major part in this argument that would rage on for many years to come. To conclude, much like the theories of the priests in the first 400 years after the birth of Jesus Christ, who said that Jerusalem was the center of a flat earth, one might be able to relate this period in time to a much more recent and modern one. Prior to the French Revolution in 1789,

Steven Spielberg :: essays research papers

I'm Steven Spielberg and I was born in Cincinnati on December 18, 1947, but I was mainly raised in New Jersey and Arizona. When I was 12 years old I used my dads 8mm camcorder and made a movie. I continued to make films with the camcorder for five more years until I went on a trip to Universal Studios. I was 17 years old and I broke away from the main tourist group to see the sound stages. I bumped into the head of Universal's editorial department, Chuck Silvers. We talked for about an hour and he wanted to see some of my 8mm films. When I showed them to him he said they were good but he could only wish me luck. So the next day I put on a suit and borrowed my fathers suitcase and walked in the front gate of Universal Studio's like I did it every day. One reason I got away with this is because the guard thought I was the owners son. I bought some plastic name tags at a camera store and I found an empty office. Then I put my name in the building directory. Everyday that summer I hung out with directors, writers, and editors. After talking to all of these movie makers I found out that nobody really liked my movies. The next fall I asked some of the executives at Universal how I can get my films noticed. They said I should put my films on 16 or 35mm film. So I did. I made a 20 minute movie about a boy and a girl hitch-hiking from the dessert to the Pacific. The day after it was shown at Universal, Sidney Sheinberg, the head of Universal's T.V. production department, gave me a seven year contract to work on T.V. series. The first few years of the contract were fun, but after a while I didn't want to direct T.V. shows. In 1971 I got a chance to make my first real movie. It was Called Duel and it was about a salesman who was harassed by a truck driver. Even though the movie didn't make much money and wasn't popular, it was my first movie and I had a lot of fun. During the next 10 years I directed 4 of the top 10 movies ever made, including Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. which is number one. E.T.- The Extra Terrestrial made $720 million dollars worldwide in the theaters and over a billion dollars total with video sales. Some other movies I directed were, Indiana Jones and the

Fitness program for Football

Many things affect your performance in games. Training preparation and fitness definitely affect your performance in games this is because when you train you improve everything needed to play football. If you exercise and train on cardiovascular endurance therefore you can last a whole game without tiring which is great because then you can play without the team having the strain of carrying you through the match. So if you train you become fitter if the training involves steady progression, this will enable you to play the game without tiring or straining yourself to hard. The better and more you exercise won't just affect your fitness it affects all three aspects of your health. The three aspects of health are social, mental and physical well-being. If you do exercise the social well-being would improve because you go to classes and meet people and make new friends so exercise = more friends+ and greater social well being. Exercise helps your mental well-being because you deal with stress and new skills and tactics giving you focus and determination. It also helps when the day is bad for oneself you can go out and relieve stress and tension that has built up during the day. Exercise helps physically because overweight people burn body fat and skinny people build muscles and give them a nice shape. It also prevents heart disease and high blood pressure, back pain and some cancers. Swimming and walking help people with asthma and all this gives a higher life expectancy so exercise looks good for everyone but too much can cause illness and make you more susceptible to flu. The reason for training is to improve your ability to take part in physical activity. Training has certain principles that apply no matter no matter what sport you undertake. These are: (S) Specificity (P) Progression (O) Overload (R) Reversibility (T) This is there because it is a simple way of remembering the principles of training Specificity Any type of training must be suitable or specific to the activity that you are training for E.g. A strength building programme will not train your body in order to run a marathon. Aswell as choosing a type of training you may wish to train concentrate on part of the body too E.g. strength building on the legs. SPECIFIC EXERCISES WILL NOT PRODUCE SPECIFIC RESULTS Each activity will have different specific demands. Most physical activities require a combination of exercises and it is important to analyse exactly what is required and those requirements can be met. It will even be necessary to identify relevant muscle groups. Overload This is making the body work harder than normal in order to improve it. Overload can be achieved in the following ways. Frequency of training: To start with you may only train twice a week with a recovery period in between. This could be increased to every other day and then to five times a week to create overload. Intensity: You can increase the intensity by simply working harder at the training method you are using e.g. twenty minute jog at 50 % of max speed increased to twenty minute jog at 60 % of max speed. Time/ Duration: Refers to the length of each training session and this should be made longer to achieve overload. Unfortunately we can't increase the time of each session because we are confined to lesson times. Your body responds to overload by adapting to it. Used sensibly it will lead to an improvement. Progression The training you are doing and particularly the amount of overload must be increased progressively. In other words, as your adapts to the increased demands that you are putting on it, then that demand should be steadily increased. If you sty at the same level so will your fitness, but you must not do too much too soon, this will lead to injury. Reversibility If you either stop or decrease your training you go into reverse and lose the effect. There are three heart rate zones they are normal, which is below 60% of your highest heart rate and there is aerobic respiration, which is above 60% of your max heart rate, and below 85% of max heart rate then there is anaerobic respiration, which is above 85% of max heart rate. When your heart rate is normal this means no benefit from training so this is bad so I have to make myself go above 60% of my max heart rate for someone my age because everyone has a different heart rate. It is believed that your max heart rate is 220- your own age e.g. 220 – 15 = 205 beats a minute which is extremely fast therefore 123 is my aerobic point and 174 is my anaerobic point. A way you can see your anaerobic point is on this graph: To make my fitness programme effective for my current level of fitness I will use many bits of information gathered such as the results from nine fitness tests preformed in class times also I will use whether recent illness has effected my performance of late. The results were in a table like this one: This table shows that I had an average attempt but can improve in allot of areas so I will focus on these areas. The areas that most concerns me is co-ordination and reactions this is because they are needed most of the time playing football e.g. when I need to dribble and look up for options so this is good when a cross can get into the box. Reactions are needed in football when the ball can't be seen when it is crossed then at the last minute you see it and need to control it. So in my programme I will be using this information to get these different fitness components improved. Over the last two weeks I have had lots to eat this being bad food for fitness because it is that time of year so this may effect my ability at the start of the course. I have had no real illness but the slight illness has now gone and I am back to normal and fighting fit. My football skills always need to be improved so I will use practices to improve passing and shooting techniques so these will be included to my fitness programme. Also I will do a little on control because it makes no harm practicing that. You should always do a warm up before each main activity because it is light exercise to get the blood pumping around the body. Also during a warm up your muscles get by the blood flowing around them gets faster and this lowers the risk of injury. The warm up also heats up synovial fluid this makes joints more mobile. When stretching in a warm up this helps muscles, tendons and ligaments from getting strained. When doing simple skills this your muscles but also helps psychologically. So this light exercise helps all three elements of health if doing in a group. In a good warm up before any sport there should be three main phases a gross body movement stage where by you do simple jogging for a long time doing such things as bringing your knees up to your chest, flicking your bottom with your heels then when you feel it is good gradually get faster into sprinting. This is to get the blood pumping around your body this also may improve slightly on cardio vascular endurance. Remember go from slow to a faster speed. My gross body movement arrangement can be shown in this diagram: The second stage of any warm up should be stretching this will help loosen the main joints this also helps to stop muscles, tendons and ligaments straining. The stretching phase should start from your ankles upwards stretching nearly every muscle. To improve flexibility you should stretch from 10-30 seconds and doing it regularly should be 8-10 seconds. The stretches used should be one as these: The next stage in the warm up is the skills stage, which helps the psychological side giving focus and determination. In this stage there should be simple tasks, which involve skills needed in a game e.g. passing against the wall controlling it and passing again and other various simple tasks. After the main activity there should be a cool down this should be included because helps your body recover after vigorous activity. Like the warm up this has phases but only two they are gross body movement and stretching. The gross body movement stage this time is to give oxygen to the muscles meaning lactic acid can be removed thus giving the muscle less stiffness. During the warm up you go from slow to fast this time go from fast to slow. Use many of the techniques shown in section five on the warm up. Finish off the cool down with some stretches this should loosen your muscles and prevent stiffness because usually after exercise muscles are often tight. As before in the warm up go from ankles upwards. Use the stretches shown in the warm up section. To monitor my performance of my activities in the 6 sessions I will use this table: I have used this table because it sets a target for each session and shows how close I was to meeting the target so if my sessions are good I should reach the target easily each time. I will make sure that the area is safe for others and myself. I will pack things away and leave them in safe places and make sure they are out of the way. I will try to set up things in an area that is out of the way of other people so noone is harmed. I will put things away immediately away after use. I will wear suitable clothing that is easy to do all the activities required.

Marketing Plan Laser Eye Surgery

Laser XY, Inc. Marketing Plan Week 3 Assignment 1 MKT500 July 22, 2012 Executive Summary Laser XY is preparing to open up Clinics in predominantly Afro-American areas. It will be using promotional tools directed at Afro-Americans with Glaucoma. The strategy of Laser XY is to assist the Afro-American communities due to this groups high-risk for eye diseases. Thus, the company creates communications that conveys a positive concern for the eye health of the Afro-American communities.Laser XY has completed the initial market research to evaluate the potential sales opportunity in the United States (â€Å"Glaucoma health guide,† 2012). If successful, Laser XY is prepared to launch clinics in the Canadian markets as well in order to address the customer needs. As part of the preliminary research, Laser XY identified the market and target segments for its services and completed a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis to evaluate business fit. In addition, Laser X Y created and effectively communicated its position statement for the clinic lunch. â€Å"Glaucoma health guide,† 2012) Laser XY background Laser XY is a specialty clinic that performs Laser correction for African Americans with Glaucoma. Laser XY is an exciting, life-enriching procedure. Laser XY understands that each patient must feel fully comfortable with his or her decision to have the treatment, as well as with the vision care team who will supervise each step of the process. That's why Laser XY combines proven, state-of-the-art, FDA-approved technology with a professional team that specializes in Glaucoma correction. Strategic mission statementLaser XY â€Å"Healthy Vision for Life: Focus on African-American Eyes† is the latest aspect of its ethnical marketing platform to raise awareness of the eye health needs of at-risk group. The initiative started with the fast-growing African American market at higher risk for many eye health issues, in 2013. In addition to superior experience, Laser XY ensures the utmost success and safety during laser vision correction involves using state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained personnel. This is translated into a higher cost compared to the so-called â€Å"discount Lasik chains†. We believe that our patients understand that a compromise on quality is unacceptable when it comes to one's vision. It is our commitment to best service and technology. † Marketing plan Determine and decide upon at least one (1) foreign market for the product and service. Provide your rationale for this market. Canada is a world leader in laser eye surgery and every year almost 40-50% of the laser eye surgery-taking place in Canada is conducted by a number of companies. The cost of laser eye surgery in Canada is more reasonable and affordable.This is due to a favorable exchange rate on the Canadian dollar, the lack of laser royalty fees in Canada, and the cost-effective economies of scale that are achieved in a sub-specialized center with many patients. According to the 2006 Census by Statistic Canada, 783,795 Canadians identified themselves as black, constituting 2. 5% of the entire Canadian population * About 30% of Black Canadians have Jamaican heritage. * An additional 32% have heritage elsewhere in the Caribbean or Bermuda. * 60% of Black Canadians are under the age of 35. 60% of Black Canadians live in the province of Ontario. * 97% of Black Canadians live in urban areas. There are 32,000 more black women than black men in Canada (â€Å"Why chose Canada,† 2012) Discuss the potential audiences for a marketing plan and the needs of those potential audiences. Worldwide, Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness. It is also the first leading cause of blindness among African Americans. It is not clear why people of African ancestry have higher rates of glaucoma and subsequent blindness than Caucasians.One factor may be that African-Americans are more susceptible to devel oping elevated eye pressure (IOP) earlier in life, which is thought to contribute to optic nerve damage and eventual vision loss. Another reason may be that patients of African descent are less likely than Caucasians to have early eye examinations that may detect and treat glaucoma. Glaucoma affects 1 in 200 people aged fifty and younger, and 1 in 10 over the age of eighty. If the condition is detected early enough it is possible to arrest the development or slow the progression with medical and surgical means. Glaucoma Treatment, 2012) Marketing Strategy: ? Target Market: Low to Middle Income consumer’s ? between the age of 18-up 1) Positioning: To create and increase buyer awareness of the Laser XY services and brand. To attract new customers, resulting in increase in sales and market share for Laser XY insurance in the private health insurance industry along with encouraging long-term relationships with the existing and new customer through advertisement and media. It is e ssential that this target segment use all the marketing variables.In particular a judicious use of pricing policy can lead to excellent growth in sales revenues. 2) Product Line: Laser XY provides members with clear vision and freedom at a lower expense. Augmented services include care booth before and after the Lasik laser eye surgery, with four years free of charge guarantee, and customer support. 3) Price: Below competitors. Interest Free special for 12 or 24 months! Spread the cost of laser eye surgery over 12 or 24 months and pay no interest if you repay the total cost within the agreed timeframe. No deposit required. 2, 36, or 24 convenient monthly payments No early settlement fees or penalties. Laser Cost for One Eye – $1500, Laser Surgery Cost for Two Eyes – $3000. 4) Promotion: Laser XY will establish outlets and free vision screening booths in localities that have a high Afro-American population. Special outlets to be organized and price-offs to be offered fo r limited time period. This will allow the members to expand benefits with a lesser payment. Major newspapers, trade magazines and other health periodicals will be used to promote the service.Along with brochures describing the benefits of Laser XY surgery insurance will be made available in all services outlets. In addition, Laser XY, Inc. will promote the service via the Internet, providing a large amount of information, using banner exchange, and contacting particular user groups. (Glaucoma Treatment, 2012) Discuss the target market and provide a rationale for this target market. Consider the strategy of Laser XY. It declares the Afro-American communities as a high-risk group for eye diseases and creates communications that conveys a positive concern for the eye health of the Afro-American ommunities. For instance, Laser XY will open booths for checking eyes. This is a strong marketing strategy. When the potential customer presents herself for a check-up a need for service is rev ealed and the customer is directed to Laser XY. ? Laser XY sends communications targeted at the Afro-American community. It shows concern for the members of the communities, communicates that the Afro-American communities are at a far greater risk with a detection of Glaucoma, and so they need Laser XY services.The valuable education that they give is a disguised marketing communication targeted at this potentially lucrative segment. From the perspective of Laser XY, the Afro-American communities are a potentially attractive and lucrative segment. Perform a SWOT analysis (strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats) for the company. The use of SWOT analysis is important to identify ways to minimize the effect of Laser XY Inc. weaknesses while trying to maximize its strengths and at the same time recognize ways to exploit its opportunities and respond to its threats.Strengths: * Afro-American communities as a high risk group for eye Glaucoma causes this a potentially attractive a nd lucrative segment * Unique offering with little or no competition in the market. ? * Locating Laser XY Inc. stores in Afro-American predominant areas and using promotional tools directed at Afro-Americans will go a long way in increasing the market share of Laser XY, Inc. Weaknesses: * Lack of brand name and reputation in the marketplace as compared to existing clinics. ? * Laser treatment does not give a surety of a 20/20 eye vision.However, it allows the patient to have a proper vision in absence of any glasses or corrective lenses. Such improvement encourages the patient to take a chance with the complication associated to laser eye surgery. Being a startup company, there is lack of strong financial base for spending on advertising or promotions compared to established clinics. Opportunities: ? * Strong growth opportunities in emerging markets in US, as well as strong potential in developed markets in Canada * The development of this service especially for Afro-American commun ities opens up new opportunities or Laser XY Inc. to maximize its revenues from the Afro-American segment. * Laser XY Inc. will show concern for the members of the communities, communicates that the Afro-American communities are at a far greater risk of Glaucoma, and so they need Laser XY, Inc. Threat * Threat of competition from established clinics as well as new potential entrants in the market due to low barriers of entry. ? * Major threats are potential imitation from other competitors and need to offer new products regularly in order to maintain competitiveness. Clients choosing more economical vision correction choices, such as prescribe eye drops, eyeglasses, and contact lenses. * Cost of LASIK eye surgery cost differs widely from one provider to another and depends on many factors. African American is a high risk of vision loss from this disease. With the commitment of our professional management team and enthusiastic staff, the culture of the organization driven by Laser XY , Inc. has been created to make a difference to this targeted group.Our marketing segment is to exploit our services for both men and women from low to middle segments of the society that are willing to use our services. Our target customers will not only have optional payment plans, it will also encounter superior experience, safety laser vision correction. This involves using state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained personnel. Furthermore, locating Laser XY, Inc. stores in Afro-American predominant areas and using promotional tools directed at Afro-Americans will go a long way in increasing the market share of Laser XY, Inc.References Glaucoma /treatment. (2012, June). Retrieved from http://www. glaucoma. org/treatment/laser-surgery. php http://adam. about. net/reports/000025_8. htm African-Americans' glaucoma risk http://outlook. wustl. edu/2011/dec/glaucoma-risk Glaucoma health guide. (2012, July). Retrieved from Glaucoma http://health. nytimes. com/health/guides/disease/gl aucoma/risk-factors. html Why chose canada. (2012, July). Retrieved from Why choose Canada–http://www. lasikmd. com/north-york/corporate-information/why-choose-canada