Our Moral Sense free essay sample

â€Å"It often happens that a man is more humanely related to a cat or dog than to any human being† -Thoreau. For centuries, we have thought of ourselves, not as mammals, but as humans, a race that has evolved past that of our sister species. However, this train of thought has led to the expansion of simple character traits into flaws that have enveloped our entire species and now afflicts us all. These flaws become clearly visible under the examination of Mark Twain. In The Lowest Animal, Mark Twain explores how human flaws constitute us as the lowest animals. Throughout his essay, Twain uses experiments (many of questionable legitimacy) and historical evidence to disprove the Darwanistic theory that humans evolved from animals and to substantiate that animals have in fact descended from animals. 4Now, holding personal and philosophical beliefs aside, Twain’s use of seemingly conclusive evidence does hold a moving argument that the theory of evolution is actually reversed; and that even from Twain’s time to present we as a race have devolved even more to be considered a lower animal than the people of Twain’s time. We will write a custom essay sample on Our Moral Sense or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All humans are flawed; though some to a higher degree than others. One of the most evident of human flaws is our inclination to always want more. We are by nature greedy beings as Mark Twain finds evident by his examination of human compared to animal actions. To prove this point Twain recounts the story of a hunting trip in which a group of men, for the entertainment of an English Earl, â€Å"killed seventy-two of those [buffalo]; and ate part of one of them and left the seventy-one to rot† (Twain, 470). 4 This does only to prove Twain’s point that humans â€Å"wantonly destroy what they have no use for† (Twain, 471) because it is available and we are afraid that if we do not take it someone else will. The same results presented themselves when Twain tested the actions of the English Earl against that of an anaconda. The Earl needlessly killed animals with no intention of using the remains in contrast to the anaconda who, when left alone with seven young calves, kills only one to sate his hunger and poses no serious threat to the remaining calves. Not only are humans greedy, Twain finds, but humans have distended into a pit of narcissistic tendencies. To test his theory of human selfishness Twain analyzes the actions of rich men compared to those of the animals. While rich men show â€Å"a rabid hunger for more, and [did] not scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor servings in order to partially appease that appà ©tit† (Twain, 471), the animals used in the study â€Å"made accumulations, but stopped when they had gathered a winter supply, and could not be persuaded to add to it either honestly or by chicane† (Twain, 471). This experiment dose only to prove Twains theory of descendent and disprove the long held theory of evolution. Greed is only one of many flaws that humans have come to possess and even perfect. Take war for example, it is often caused by nationalistic quarrels between one patriot and another. Twain explains that Man is the only animal that willingly participates in public genocide to protect a piece of land, or a mythical icon not truly known to have existed. His experiments show that animals do not â€Å"gathers his brethren about him and go forth in cold blood and with calm pulse to exterminate his kind†(Twain,472) but men have worked for century’s to perfect that ability. Moreover, in doing this man becomes the only animal that â€Å"helpless fellow of his country takes possession of it and drives him out of it or destroys him† (Twain, 472). As Twain delves deeper, his experiment concludes that animals fight individually and that humans are the only animals that engage in â€Å"organized masses† (Twain, 472). In this, Twain proves that humans are the only animals that group together to thoughtlessly destroy each other with the possibility that they themselves might also be destroyed. Twain reveals that war is not humanities only issue concerning the individual and throughout all of history, people have been persecuted for holding different beliefs and ideals. This human flaw is never more apparent than is the differences of religion. Using historical evidence, Twain predates religious human prejudice to â€Å"the first Richards time [when] he shuts up a multitude of Jew families in a tower and sets fire to it† (Twain, 472). This mass execution was performs over a religious conflict revolving around a book that supposedly was written at the beginning of humanity. Animals are not susceptible to such foolishness because they have no known religions and there for obviously make less bias decisions than  humans. As Twain concludes his experiments, he concedes that there is only one factor that caused the decadency of humans. Twain reveals that unlike animals, humans are the only species with a â€Å"moral sense† (Twain). Moreover, it is this â€Å"moral sense† that permits humans â€Å"the ability to distinguish good from evil; and with it, the ability to do evil† (Twain). Twain hypothesizes that without this affliction humans â€Å"would rise at once to the level of the Higher Animals† (Twain). Nevertheless, because of it man comprises a trait that â€Å"is plainly without vale to him† (Twain) that will continue to cause man descent to an even lower animal as the generations pass. Because of the format of this essay twain dose not directly, identify either a main protagonist or antagonist. Instead, Twain lets the many subjects of his experiments play the roles of antagonist and protagonist, which cause the roles to become very complex. This method of characterization also allow Twain to use his characters to prove his thesis without letting their personal thought create a bias on the topic. In addition, Twain’s human characters all have a very odd similarity. When Twain describes his characters, he describes all of them by their social status or religious preference but not once dose he depict one of them as being below upper class. Since, Twain never gives reason for this, one can only speculate that he uses the social elite to solidify his thesis and give evidence that it is not only the peasants and beggars who commit acts of immorality but that even the best of us are guilty at times. If it has not become apparent, already you will notice that Twain makes a primary use of male characters in his experiments. Although a strong supporter of women’s rights, for the length of his essay, Twain only addresses the presence of the female sex twice and both times the females are portrayed as victims at the hands of men. By Twain stating that â€Å"in our day in England a man is fined ten shillings for beating his mother nearly to death with a chair, and another man is fined forty shillings for having four pheasant eggs in his possession without being able to satisfactorily explain how he got them†(Twain 472) it leaves much to be wondered about the place of women in Twain’s theory because he never fully characterizes a  female figure as flawed and the two female examples used are used only to strengthen Twain’s argument that men are the descendents from animals. This is case because Twain is implying that at this time men felt that women were only equal to that of animals and no better. This makes the reader wonder if Twain is implying that women are in fact not the decedents from animals but that of another species altogether. Now, this could just be a prominent element of the time, but Twain rarely uses a strong female character in his writing preferring to focus on male leads. Although the element of male characters in Twain’s writing is similar to his other works, and he still maintains his normal form of satire, Twain has abandoned his usual colloquial style for a more formal standard. Unlike what we read in The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, Twain abandons his routine use of dialect for a modern form of literary intellect. Twain also uses a deep almost philosophical insight to enlighten his readers while managing to avoid the use of bias or personal beliefs to sway the reader’s opinions evident by the Twain includes himself in the essay disassociates himself from being either animal or human. The topic of Twains essay creates many mixed emotions for his readers. Not only does the topic of evolution alone challenge many religious views but Twain also works to disprove a long held theory of human intelligence above that of animals. The experiments Twain performed creates a mood of disbelief coupled with an internal outrage at Twain for having the audacity to write such â€Å"hypocrisy† about his own kind. Humans have for centuries descended through the animal kingdom and have come to a standstill at the bottom of the hierarchy. We have become known as the lowest animal through actions that we ourselves deem inhumane but we as humans’ commit them. The experiments carried out by Mark Twain have clearly proven that is animals have in fact become our superiors in all moral and ethical means. Our moral sense, a characteristic that most would consider a virtue, has led the human race down a path that has ended in the disgrace of humans and the ascendency of a species that have been and are still thought to be below humans. However, there is still one question that Twain failed  to answer through his experiments. Can we as humans ever redeem ourselves in the eyes of our animal sisters and be able to rightly claim that humans are once again the higher animals or are we to parish like other species that were not strong enough to overcome the conflicts happening within their own social structure? As for now, time will only tell.

Quebecs Quiet Revolution Essays - Politics Of Quebec, Free Essays

Quebecs Quiet Revolution Essays - Politics Of Quebec, Free Essays Quebecs Quiet Revolution Quebec's Quiet revolution: What is it? How has it changed Quebec's society? How has it affected Confederation? The English-French relations have not always been easy. Each is always arguing and accusing the other of wrong doings. All this hatred and differences started in the past, and this Quiet revolution, right after a new Liberal government led by Jean Lesage came in 1960. Thus was the beginning of the Quiet Revolution. Lesage had an excellent team of cabinet ministers which included Rene Levesque. The Liberals promised to do two things during the Quiet Revolution; one was to improve economic and social standards for the people of Quebec, and the other was to win greater respect and recognition for all the French people of Canada. The Liberals started a program to take control of hydro-electric power companies. French-Canadian engineers from all over Canada returned to Quebec to work on the project. Slogans during these times were we can do it and masters in our own homes. The government also started to replace programs the Church previously ran, which included hospital insurance, pension schemes and the beginning of Medi-Care. For these programs, the Quebec Liberals had to struggle with Ottawa for a larger share of the tax dollars. One of the greatest reforms was the modernization of the entire school system. The Church used to own the schools of Quebec. Most of the teachers were Priests, Nuns and Brothers. They provided a good education but Quebec needed more in business and technology. Lesage wanted a government-run school system that would provide Quebec with people in engineering, science, business and commerce. With the new freedom of expression, lots of books, plays and music about French culture were all developed in Quebec. French contemporary playwrights were very famous during that time. However, not all was going well in Quebec. The French-English relation was going bad. Many studies showed that French-Canadian Quebecers were earning the lowest wage in all of the ethnic groups in Canada. Other complaints were that the top jobs in Quebec were given to English speaking Canadians. Canada was going through the worst crisis in its history, and unless equal partnership was found a break-up would likely happen. Some Quebecers thought that separation was the only solution. They thought that as long as Quebec was associated with the rest of Canada, French-Canadians would never be treated equal. The FLQ (Front De Liberation Du Quebec) was founded in 1963. It was a smaller, more forceful group of separatists. They were a collection of groups of young people whose idea was to use terrorism to achieve independence for Quebec. The ALQ (Arm de Liberation de Quebec) was even more of a violent separatist group. Some of their actions included robbing banks in order to get money. For their ammunition they had to raid arms depots of the Canadian Armed Forces. There were many Federalists that believed that separatism had no future and that French-Canadians could play a role in a bilingual Canada. There were three Quebec men that believed in Federalism. These men were Liberals and their names were Pierre Trudeau, Jean Marchand and Gerard Pelletier. The President of France, General De Gaulle came to Quebec in 1967 and gave speeches to separatist groups that deemed him an enthusiast of the thoughts of the separatists in the struggle to fight for the liberation of Quebec. The Prime Minister at the time, Lester B. Pearson, criticized De Gaulle's remarks and said that Quebec belonged to Canada and there was no need for their liberation. In 1970, British Trade Commissioner James R. Cross was kidnapped by FLQ and wanted in return for Cross, 23 political prisoners. Quebec Labour Minister, Pierre Laporte was also kidnapped which started a Quebec crisis. After a few months Cross returned when Laporte was assassinated. The Quebec crisis ended several years of violence in Quebec. This crisis made many Quebecers upset because Ottawa sent the army into Quebec. Therefore English-French turmoil did not end. Rene Levesque was a leader who became very popular in Quebec with his views on independence. In 1976, Rene Levesque and the Parti Quebecois won the Provincial election. Now many Quebecers thought he could build up Quebec. Since

Canadian Tire Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Canadian Tire Corporation - Essay Example epartments include Canadian Tire Retail, PartSource Automotive Stores, Online Store, Financial Services, Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Canadian Tire Petroleum and Forzani Group Ltd. These divisions form the entire Canadian Tire Corporation. Each of these divisions performs specific and designated functions. The company’s management structure is held by CEO as the highest management authority. The CEO is the overall authority in the organization. This corporation has six directors amongst which two are independent. Under the CEO are several executive officers which includes Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President for Finance, Chief Operating Officer, Financial Services President for Canadian Tire Bank, Executive Vice President, Customer Experience and Automotive, Executive Vice President for Supply Chain and Technology, President of Forzani Group Ltd Sports, President of Mark’s and Executive Vice President for the Canadian Tire Corporation, President of Canadian Tire Retail, Senior Vice President for Communications and Corporate Affairs, Senior Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. There is a Treasure who operates under Chief Financial Officer. FGL Sports have its own Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. These are groups behind the successful existence of this Corporation. Canadian Tire Corporation is a parent company that incorporates several children companies under its custodianship. The company deals in retail services in Canada with its head office in Toronto, Ontario (http://www.theofficialboard.com, n.p). The company had revenue of $12.9 billion in 2013. Currently it is the leading retail company in the entire Canada with over fifty eight thousand. Canadian Tire Corporation has a rich history behind it since its conception. The company has been in existence for over 90-years. Canadian Tire Corporation Started back in 1923 after the sale of Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd by

Federal Constitution in US Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Federal Constitution in US - Coursework Example In doing this, the federal constitution creates a balance of power between States and federal constitution. That is something that the state constitution could achieve for the federal government. State constitution is unable to define how a federal officer could act or behave. In addition, there could be conflicts and chaos as 50 States in the US would create 50 distinct sets of rules for the government to follow. It is possible that the US could have survived without a written constitution with all powers remaining in its 50 States. In this regard, the US government could have served as a place for the States to monitor and coordinate their policies. However, such a feeble link and association between the States would not have been workable since it would have caused many chaos and disputes between the States as the States had serious conflicts and disputes over the territories, commerce disputes, and land use conflicts. The US federal government, under its powers States in the cons titution keeps all States united, peaceful, and working together even if at times they are not happy about some policies that the government implements. It would have been very hard for the US to hang on and survive without a formal written constitution because the constitution gives the country stability and a way of discussing and resolving their disputes given that there are many States in the US. It is worth noting that constitution is not a static document thus it is flexible and open to changes with identification of faults and need of changing times. In this manner, written constitution aided in settling differences among States and reaching consensus among warring groups. In addition, the written constitution helped the US in balancing the power between the States and federal government thus binding all the 50 States in one nation. 2. Why shouldn’t the Constitution include an overall criminal code specifying crimes and punishments that could apply throughout the Unite d States? Most criminal policies and laws are formed by States in the US and the federal constitution was written as a guide for federal government. Therefore, penal codes are very lengthy in that they cover many things from standards such as murder and larceny to practicising clinics without a license. In addition, penal codes deal with traffic laws and by the time the constitution was enacted, there were no cars nor were there computers or credit cards. The constitution gave legislative powers to congress to tackle problems as they arose instead of assuming that the drafters of the constitution could anticipate the future and all tribulation that would come up in future. Furthermore, the constitution is enacted to protect rights of individuals and place limits on the authority or powers of the federal government. Listing punishments and crimes in the constitution would load it up with many specifics and hence infringe on the work of the judiciary and legislature, who are mandated to determine such matters. 3. Why is society considered the victim of a crime rather than the individual victimized? Criminal law considers society the victim because when an individual commits the crime, the behavior affects the society. For instance, if the society’s security is upset, all members of the community are considered victims. People need laws to identify what action is acceptable and to be able to deal with people who do not follow the law.

Applications of Genomics in Cancer

Applications of Genomics in Cancer IN WHICH AREA OF HEALTH CARE CAN GENOMICS MAKE THE BIGGEST IMPACT, AND WHAT SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES ARE NEEDED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN? Hozaifa S. Hassan Cancer management is one of the hottest areas in modern healthcare, especially with its increasing burden in both developing and developed countries. Genomics has changed the landscape of cancer management. This review highlights the current knowledge and concepts concerning how genomics with the advent of new technologies has revolutionised cancer management. Although we still have a long way to go till achieving full cure of cancer, the rapid development of cancer research carries fruitful promises for the near future. Keywords: Cancer, genomics, microRNA, immunotherapy The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recently declared that global cancer burden rises to 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths occurred in  2012, compared with 12.7 million and 7.6 million,  respectively, in 2008, with prediction of a substantive increase to 19.3 million new cancer cases per year by  2025. Prevalence estimates for 2012, show that there  were 32.6 million people alive over the age of 15 years had a cancer diagnosed in the past five years. 1 This sets off the alarm bells, we have to develop more effective tools to face this current situation. Genome sequencing and the oncogenic landscape: Cancer is driven by various genomic alterations. The emergence of the draft human genome sequence in 2000 empowered the study of cancer genomes in many ways. With the arrival of the next generation sequencing (NGS) the tumour biology research has further revolutionized.2 With comprehensive sequencing of many cancer samples, huge number of mutated genes were discovered, so it is crucial to classify these genes into those whose mutations confer with selective gross advantage for the cancer ( driver genes mutations) and those which occur though the course  of tumourigenesis and do not have great impact on the selective gross advantage (passenger mutations). There are about 140 driver genes identified till now. A typical tumour contains two to eight of these driver gene mutations. Driver genes can be classified into 12 signalling pathways that regulate three core cellular processes: cell fate, cell survival, and genome maintenance (Fig. 1). Therefore, targeting the driver genes or their products could have a great impact on tumour growth. Besides, the administration of unnecessary, costly, and potentially toxic treatment will be  avoided.2 Fig ure 1. Cancer cell signaling pathways and the cellular processes they regulate. (Vogelstein et al ., 2013) Genomics and targeted therapy Targeted therapy towards the products of mutated driver genes has revolutionized the modern cancer therapy. This is best exemplified by imatinib which targets the Abelson (ABL) kinas in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). ABL kinase is a chimeric oncogenic fusion protein resulted from a reciprocal translocation of break point cluster (BCR) on chromosome 22 and ABL on chromosome 9. Food and drug administration (FDA) approved imatinib as first-line treatment for CML in 2001 for its magnificent response with  89% overall rate of 5-uear survival for patients treated. 3 It is crucial to accurately match patients with the most appropriate drugs. Otherwise, some anti- cancer drugs would be clinically useless because the personal and financial costs would far outweigh the benefits. For example, targeted epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors achieve a response rate of 71% in patients with non-small cell lung cancer whose tumour harbour an activating EGFR mutation compared with 1% for those  without a mutation.3 There are many targeted drugs that are already used or will enter the clinic soon (Table 1).3 Genetic networks and pathways: one hit is not enough Genomics has shed the light on genetic networking and pathways, where tumourigenesis results from multiple mutations in different genetic networks driving one or more pathways that eventually lead to the acquisition of the growth advantage. This could explain why some targeted drugs are thwarted by resistance. Moreover, this could provide novel combinations for therapeutic  intervention.4 For example, most of melanomas are driven by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway which is composed of Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK switches. Melanoma patients who have B-RAF V600E variant greatly respond to the B-RAF inhibitors (vemurafenib and dabrafenib). Vemurafenib was approved by FDA in 2011 for  increasing the survival in melanoma patients. 4 Unfortunately, this response is short-lived and  regulation of two other agonists of MAPK- signalling, C-RAF and MAP3K8/COT, could bypass the requirement for B-RAF by re-activating the pathway downstream of the drug target. In a similar vein, Nazarian et al. (2010) have shown that another member in the same pathway called MEK – a downstream kinase to B-RAF- is also mutated in resistant cases. Therefore, adding MEK inhibitors to vemurafenib, could effectively  eliminate most of resistant cells.4 Recently, Villanueva et al. (2013) have shown that the response rate to MEK inhibitor (trametinib) is decreasing. Resistance to MEK and BRAF inhibitors was conferred to MEK2-Q60P mutation and BRAF-V600E amplification, respectively, resulting in sustained MAPK activation in the resistant cells. Interestingly, concurrent use of both dabrafenib and trametinib from the start, not after developing resistance, could significantly improve the efficacy and decrease resistance to therapy. Moreover, a triple combination of dabrafenib, trametinib, and the PI3K/mTOR inhibitor GSK2126458 led to sustained tumour growth  inhibition.5 This paves the way for novel combinations of drugs targeting multiple nodal points in cancer- driving pathways. As a result, cancer therapy will be more efficacious with less resistance. Oncogenic signatures: completing the atlas Many cancer genome projects unleashed in the past decade have identified essentially complete sets of protein-coding genes, coupled with the discovery of novel microRNAs. Moreover, deeper coverage of many cancer genomes has identified a wealth of somatic mutations, including copy- number changes (deletions and amplifications of DNA), rearrangements, point mutations and small insertions in many tumour types. However, the real challenge is to classify these enormous data sets and translate them into functional and actionable  alterations.6 Recently, computational algorithms and functional genomics together with the sequencing of complete genomes of human cancers provide comprehensive catalogues of somatic mutations that fuel different types of cancers. Moreover, these catalogues predict possible targets for therapy in a  resistance emerged towardsB-RAF inhibitors. Johannessen et al. (2010) have shown that up-selected cancer. *PARP denotes poly (adenosine diphosphate–ribose) polymerase. (McDermott et al., 2011) For example, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) provides molecular tumour maps in unprecedented detail. 3,299 TCGA tumours from 12 cancer types are classified according to their genetic and epigenetic alterations, and then they are gathered into pathways that affect oncogenesis with correlation between these functional alteration and available targeted therapy (Fig. 2). The globally coordinated International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), of which TCGA is a member, will add thousands more samples and additional tumour types which together with computational algorisms will lead to better  understanding of cancer.6 In the future, we would have a genomic atlas for different types of cancers guiding us through our quest for finding a cure for cancer. MicroRNA and cancer: tiny but powerful MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs which enhance the cleavage or translational repression of specific mRNA with recognition site(s) in the 3’-untranslated region (3’UTR). They are involved in multiple biological activities as well as disease progression including cancer. Depending on the functions of their targets, they could act as either tumour suppressors or oncogenes. Dysregulation of miRNAs has been widely observed in different stages of cancer either by structural genetic alterations, epigenetic changes or abnormal biogenesis.7 Recently, miRNA-based anticancer therapies have been exploited, either alone or in combination with current targeted therapies. MicroRNA approaches could concurrently target multiple effectors of pathways involved in cell differentiation proliferation and survival (Fig. 3). 7 For example, O’Day et al. (2010) have shown that miR-24 inhibits proliferation through direct targeting of c-Myc, E2F1 and a number of related molecules. Interestingly, Ma et al. (2010) have shown the crucial role of miR-10b in breast cancer metastasis. This group has also exploited a possible therapeutic application, reporting that systemic treatment of tumour-bearing mice with miR-10b antagomirs suppresses breast cancer metastasis. This opens the door for the use of oligonucleotides or virus-based constructs to either block the expression of an oncogenic Figure 2. Map of functional and actionable alterations across 12 tumor types. Tumor types abbreviated as: BLCA, Bladder urothelial carcinoma; BRCA, Breast invasive carcinoma; COADREAD, Colon and rectum adenocarcinoma; GBM, Glioblastoma multiform; HNSC, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; KIRC, Kidney renal clear-cell carcinoma; LAML, Acute myeloid leukemia; LUAD, Lung adenocarcinoma; LUSC, Lung squamous cell carcinoma; OV, Ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma; UCEC, Uterine corpus endometrioid carcinoma; MSS, Microsatellite stable; MSI, microsatellite instability; Ultra, ultramutators; Low CNA, endometrioid; RTK, receptor tyrosine kinase; DSB, double-strand break.  (Ciriello et al., 2013)  miRNA or to reintroduce a tumour suppressor miRNA lost in cancer.7 Cancer inunwtotherapy: awaken the giant For a cancer to develop and metastasise, it must first escape the immune surveillance. Cancer uses a Houdini mechanism to hide its antigens and deceive the immune system. Hanks et al. (2013) have shown that loss of tumour-expressed type III transforming growth factor receptor (TGF R3), enhance TGF-signalling within loco-regional dendritic cells (DCs) and up-regulated both the immune-regulatory enzyme indoleamine 2, 3- dioxygenase (IDO) in plasmacytoid DCs and the CCL22 chemokine in myeloid DCs. These alterations mediate T regulatory cells infiltration  and the suppression of antitumor immunity.8 Interestingly, the therapeutic benefit derived from the combination of an antigen-specific vaccine with a TGF- signalling inhibitor in murine HER2/NEU-expressing 4T1 tumours was primarily mediated by an enhanced antitumor T cell response. This opens the door for using novel TGF- signalling inhibitor in enhancing the  immune therapy.8 Another recent approach in this field is releasing the brakes of the immune system by using checkpoint blocking antibodies. For example, antibodies directed against cytotoxic T ­ lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) (e.g. Ipilimumab) and programmed death 1 receptor (PD-1) (e.g. Nivoluma) have demonstrated significant recent promise in the treatment of an expanding list of malignancies. Ipilimumab was approved by FDA in 2011 for significantly improving the survival of patients with metastatic melanoma. Further research will demonstrate much more checkpoints that can enhance immunotherapy either alone or  with combinations with other drugs.9 Interestingly, cancerous cells also have some tricks to escape the radar of the natural killer cells (NKs). For example, cancerous cells down ­ express their natural killer group 2, member D ­ ligands (NKG2D-Ls) required for activation of  NKG2D receptors on NKs. 10 Bedel et al. (2011) have shown a pivotal and novel role for signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) in modulating the expression ofMHC-I chain-related A (MICA) -one member ofNKG2D-L family- in cancer cells. Interestingly, neutralizing STAT3 with pharmacologic inhibitors or siRNA has led to an  increase in NK degranulation and IFNy Figure 3. MicroRNAs targeting the hallmarks of cancer. (Iorio et al., 2012) This sets the stage for developing novel effective immunotherapies in the future as well as increasing todays ones efficacy. Conclusion Genomics has revolutionary changed the landscape of cancer management. Whole genome sequencing of many cancer types combined with computational algorithms will add a wealth of information to our current knowledge. In the future, complete comprehensive genomic atlas will be available for most cancer types. Therefore, the mutations driving an individuals cancer could be exactly identified then precisely targeted by chemotherapeutics, immunotherapy, synthetic oligonucleotides or combinations of those. This will increase the efficacy of the therapy. Besides, the administration of unnecessary, costly, and potentially toxic treatment will be avoided. It will be true that cancer could be cured! References [1] Latest world cancer statistics Global cancer burden rises to 14.1 million new cases in 2012: Marked increase in breast cancers must be addressed. http://www.iarc.fr/en/mediacentre/pr/2013/pdfs/pr223_E.pdf. (12 December 2013) [2] Vogelstein, B et al. Cancer genome landscapes.  SCIENCE 2013; 339: 1546–1558 [3] McDermott, U, Downing, JR, Stratton, MR. Genomics and the continuum of cancer care. N Engl J Med 2011;  364:340-50 [4] Sandmann, T, Boutros, M. Screens, maps networks: from genome sequences to personalized medicine. Current Opinion in Genetics Development 2012; 22:36–44 [5] Villanueva, J et al. Concurrent MEK2 mutation and BRAF amplification confer resistance to BRAF and MEK inhibitors in melanoma. Cell Reports 2013; 4: 1090–1099 [6] Ciriello, G et al. Emerging landscape of oncogenic signatures across human cancers. Nature Genetics 2013;  45:1127-1133 [7] Iorio, MV, Croce, CM. MicroRNA dysregulation in cancer: diagnostics, monitoring and therapeutics. a comprehensive review. EMBO Mol Med 2012; 4:143–159 [8] Hanks,BA et al. Type III TGF-ÃŽ ² receptor downregulation generates an immunotolerant tumor microenvironment. The Journal of Clinical Investigation  2013; 123: 3925-3940 [9] Kyi, C, Postow, MA. Checkpoint blocking antibodies in cancer immunotherapy. FEBS Letters 2014; 588: 368–376 [10] Bedel, R et al. Novel role for STAT3 in transcriptional regulation of NK immune cell targeting receptor MICA on cancer cells. Cancer Res 2011; 71:1615-1626 (Word count: 2,124) Three lab choices 1. Cancer genome project(Prof. Mike Stratton ) 2. Gene expression genomics(Dr. Sarah Teichmann) 3. Epigenetic reprogramming(Prof. Wolf Reik) 8

Engagement with China: A Smithian Perspective :: Adam Smith Economics Essays

China seems to have been long stationary, and had probably long ago acquired that full complement of riches which is consistent with the nature of its laws and institutions. But this complement may be much inferior to what, with other laws and institutions, the nature of its soil, climate, and situation might admit of. A country which neglects or despises foreign commerce, and which admits the vessels of foreign nations into one or of its ports only, cannot transact the same quantity of business which it might do with different laws and institutions. Adam Smith, The Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Book I, Chapter IX Introduction In today's post-Cold War world, U.S. foreign policy faces a plethora of uncertainties in the economic, social and political spheres. With the geopolitical order currently reduced to one major superpower, the new order is still quite amorphous. For such reasons, politicians, economists, military strategists and others in Washington have sought to answer the question, "Is there any particular country that has the potential to rise to the level of a regional, or even global, hegemon in the 21st century?" Evidence suggests so, and the country that has placed itself on the path of fulfilling that prophecy is the People's Republic of China. A 1994 World Bank study showed in 1980, the PRC accounted for only 3.6% of the world's gross domestic product and 0.8 % of its exports of manufactured goods. It estimates that, by 2010, the PRC could account for 15.5% of the world's GDP and 6.4% of its exports of manufactured goods (O’Quinn, 1997). Clearly, China is poised to assert much more influence on world affairs in the coming century. For this reason, foreign policy towards China has been debated under the realm of two distinct policies, engagement and containment. Engagement seeks to encourage China’s involvement in multilateral agreements and its membership in international organizations as a means of promote Beijing’s respect and adherence to international norms. Containment, on the other hand, adopts a more defensive approach. Its advocates point to the security risks inherent in accepting China into the international community. The policy proposes counterbalancing China in a method similar to that used with Russia during the Cold War. The challenge for the United States is to examine these two policies and determine which will be most effective in promoting U.S. interests vis-Ã  -vis an emerging China. In searching for answers, this paper will utilize arguments from a variety of scholars, most notably the famed economist Adam Smith, in an effort to focus on the strategy of engagement with the People's Republic of China.

Male Bashing Stereotype Essay

‘’Male bashing stereotype† by Kimberly Graham article is a first person account about the question of what women want and her wants and dislikes. The author’s main point is that no one really has a clear idea of what women want. There are so many books and shows about the wants and needs of both women and men but especially women and they are all inconclusive of what the whole populations of women really want. The author is right that whether you are a feminist or a typical woman you don’t always know what you want in a man. A woman might want a man that is tall, handsome and makes a lot of money but she doesn’t want him to be controlling, a pig, or insulting. Sometimes when you ask for specifics characteristics you get stuck with others that are not welcome. You might want a man that works but you don’t want him to show up at your house all dirty from work for your date. It is hard to find someone that matches your specification exactly if you don’t even know what those specifications are and what sacrifices you are willing to make as a woman but have what you want. The article targets people that want to learn about relationships and the stereotypes that are put out there about dating. The author wants people to dwell longer on what they don’t want instead of what they do want. â€Å"So what does this paper prove? I have come up with an answer to the question of what women want. Or have I? No, the statement is too vague. Society should not generalize-it’s an emotional question. †