Advertisements, Codes and Fairy Tales :: essays research papers

Advertisements, Codes and Fairy Tales   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many advertisements use codes to convey a fairy tale to consumers, usually resulting in a happy ending. This occurs at the expense of the price and means being set aside. Most advertisements rely heavily on visual props and sometimes on text to convey their meaning. These codes are open to many interpretations. This ad is no exception. It uses the visual code on many different levels, and the text is there mainly for explanatory purposes. These codes all have references to the story-line of Magic: two sorcerers using spells to fight each other over imaginary regions of land. The advertisement tries unsuccessfully to convey a happy ending, like in a fairy tale, to the consumer, while sacrificing price and means.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The code of spatial order is used to show the reader advancements in periods of time. These advancements can be seen as one looks at the ad from the lower-left corner in a clockwise circle. The first object one would see is a skull from a Woolly Mammoth, which is symbolic of prehistoric times. The next object, a computer, stands out because it does not fit the pattern of chronological order. Wizards of the Coast and Microprose, the advertisers, use this purposely by drawing attention to the computer and consequently the computer game. The computer falls into another pattern. This pattern goes in the same order, clock-wise, but alternates between Magic (the game) and something pertaining to the background of the game. The next objects are tarot cards and a spell book, both of which follow the patterns. These objects, along with the mood of the entire ad being dark, may be interpreted by the consumer to mean death or the devil. This is based on cultural beliefs and rituals. Most people believe angels and good guys wear white, and therefore devils and bad guys dress in black. Also, people usually wear black clothing to funerals, which is essentially a ritual for death. The next item in the pattern is actual cards from the game of Magic. These cards follow chronological order because they are the result of the movable-type printing press being invented in the 18th or 19th century. The final components are a CD-ROM disk and a mouse. These show how science and technology have advance in the 20th century, and it also reminds the consumer of the computer, and consequently the computer game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This printed sales pitch also uses dark and bright colors that contrast each other to give the consumer more information about the game. The ad itself is dark and mystic, somewhat evil; it also has blue, mystical back-lighting.

Advantages of Human Genetic Engineering Essay

Genetic engineering in its present form has been around for approximately twenty five years. The dictionary defines human genetic engineering as the alteration of an individual’s genotype with the aim of choosing the phenotype of a newborn or changing the existing phenotype of a child or adult. There are many social consequences that are associated with genetic engineering which has caused much debate from its beginning in 1970s. The benefits of human genetic engineering are endless, the most predominant advantages include curing genetic diseases, increasing human immunity, and the production of more effective pharmaceuticals. The most promising benefit of human genetic engineering is gene therapy. Gene therapy is the medical treatment of a disease by repairing or replacing defective genes or introducing therapeutic genes to fight the disease. Over the past ten years, certain autoimmune diseases – diseases resulting from a disordered immune system reaction – and heart disease have been treated with gene therapy. Many diseases, such as Huntington’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, or. ALS, and cystic fibrosis are caused by a defective gene. The hope is that soon, through genetic engineering, a cure can be found for these diseases by either inserting a corrected gene, modifying the defective gene, or even performing genetic surgery. Eventually the hope is to completely eliminate certain genetic diseases as well as treat non-genetic diseases with an appropriate gene therapy. Gene therapy researchers are also studying ways to improve a patient’s immune response to cancer. In this approach, the treatment is used to stimulate the body’s natural ability to attack cancer cells. In one method, researchers take a small blood sample from a patient and insert genes that will cause each cell to produce a protein called a T-cell receptor, or TCR, which is responsible for recognizing antigens and disease fighting antibodies. The genes are transferred into the patient’s white blood cells and are then given back to the patient. In the body the TCRs then recognize and attach to certain molecules found on the surface of the tumor cells. Finally, the TCRs activate the white blood cells to attack and kill the tumor cells. Scientists are also investigating the insertion of genes into cancer cells to make them more sensitive to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or other treatments. In other studies, researchers remove healthy blood-forming stem cells from the body, insert a gene that makes these cells more resistant to the side effects of high doses of anticancer drugs, and then inject the cells back into the patient. Human genetic engineering can also be used as a disease preventative by increasing ones immunity. People infected with a serious illness may not show symptoms of the disease for long periods of time. These latent, or inactive, infections can develop into an active disease without warning and also can be passed on to others. This new approach focuses on controlling or stimulating the immune system to cure latent infections and prevent them from causing disease. This research in immunity has the potential to significantly reduce illness, death, and disease transmission. An example of this preventative application is the improvement in the treatment of HIV. The AIDS/HIV disease is a viral infection that destroys immune responses. The disease can be treated with drugs, however these drugs do not eliminate the virus from the body. Currently a patient must remain on these drugs for the remainder of their life. The purpose of genetic engineering’s pre-clinical studies is to advance towards clinical trials with a cell-based method of enhancing the patient’s own immune response against the virus. This approach involves identifying anti-HIV receptors that will be introduced into the patient’s own blood-forming stem cells. This approach has the potential to provide long-term immune control of virus replication, and may require only one or a few administrations. Another benefit from the study of human gene altering is with the creation of new drugs. Pharmaceutical advances in genetic engineering have made it possible to use plants as factories for protein production. Plant-made pharmaceuticals are made by inserting a segment of DNA that encodes the protein of choice into plant cells. The plants or plant cells are essentially factories used to produce the desired proteins and are only grown for the purpose of human pharmaceuticals. An example of this pharmaceutical application is gene splicing, one of the earliest uses of genetic engineering. Gene splicing was first used to manufacture large amounts of insulin, which was made using cells of E. coli bacteria. Interferon, which is used to eliminate certain viruses and kill cancer cells, is also a product of genetic engineering. Another byproduct is a type of human growth hormone; it’s used to treat dwarfism and is produced through genetically engineered bacteria and yeasts. Today, research in the field of human genetic engineering continues to be used in the production of a variety of drugs and hormones for medical advantages. Human genetic engineering – the application of scientific methods, procedures, and technologies that allow manipulation of genetic material in order to alter the hereditary traits – is a topic that had been debated about for many years. The field of human genetic engineering is growing and changing at a tremendous pace. Future advance in genetic engineering could possibly eliminate diseases, deformities, prolong life, and overall improve human life.

10 Questions to Ask For-Profit Online Colleges

Not all for-profit colleges are scams. In fact, some offer students flexibility and a career-oriented learning style that can be difficult to find elsewhere. On the other hand, some online for-profit programs rake in big money while leaving students with lots of debt and few job prospects. If you’re considering enrolling in a for-profit online college, hold off on signing that first tuition check until you get answers to these ten questions: 1. What is the colleges accreditation status? You’ll want to make sure that your school’s accreditation is recognized by the United States Department of Education. The most transferable form of accreditation comes from the six nationally-recognized regional accrediting bodies. 2. Is the school now (or has it ever been) on one of the federal financial watch lists? The federal government recently released a list of colleges that are being monitored due to concerning financial behavior. Although the list isn’t comprehensive, you’ll want to make sure your college isn’t on it. 3. What is the colleges graduation rate? Find out what percent of students who start the program end up graduating. If this number is particularly low, it’s a good indicator that the school may not be providing a quality experience or enough student support. 4. How many students who graduate from the program are able to find a career in their field? The federal government is starting to crack down on for-profit programs that charge a lot for tuition and leave students in the dark when it comes to career prospects. Make sure your investment is worthwhile - you’ll want to know that a reasonable percentage of graduates in your program are able to find employment. 5. How long does it actually take most students to graduate from this program? It’s likely that the average is longer than 4 years. But, if students are taking 6-8 years to earn an undergraduate degree, that might be a sign to look elsewhere. 6. How much student debt does the average student in this program take on? Tuition prices may be posted. But, how much debt are students actually accruing? When you factor in student fees, additional coursework, textbooks, and graduation charges, expenses start to add up. You don’t want to graduate with a photography degree and $100,000 of student debt. Make sure that your debt won’t be too challenging to manage with your expected income. 7. What kind of access to career development does the school offer? Traditional schools tend to offer job fairs, employer meet-and-greets, resume reviews, and other career development options. Does your for-profit program provide any services to help put your degree to use? 8. What other schools or parent companies is this for-profit program connected with? Some for-profit schools are part of larger conglomerate of schools. Sometimes, when a for-profit program fails, it takes new life with a new name. Do a bit of research into your college’s history and make sure they’ve been thriving for a while. 9. What are the advantages of choosing this school over a non-profit alternative? Some for-profit schools offer legitimate advantages. They may be able to let you focus on your career rather than saddle you with too many general ed requirements. Or, they may be able to help you finish a degree in less time and with less expense. However, this isn’t always the case. Find out by comparing your for-profit options with similar non-profit and public colleges. 10. How does this school track their statistics? Don’t just ask the above questions to a telephone recruiter and call it a day. Learn where and how they are collecting this information. Then, double-check the numbers with outside sources. Don’t rely on any school to give you the full picture without your own research to back it up. Jamie Littlefield is a writer and instructional designer. She can be reached on Twitter or through her educational coaching website: jamielittlefield.com.