Synthesis of Aquasomes With Different Compositions

Synthesis of Aquasomes With Different Compositions Executive Summary of Research Proposal (maximum 300 words) (Please include the problem statement, objectives, research methodology, expected output/outcomes/implication, and significance of output from the research project) The last three decades have witnessed remarkable and breathtaking advances in the field of biotechnology, biochemistry, molecular biology and peptide synthesis. These developments have facilitated the pharmaceutical industry to make remarkable progress in the development of peptide and proteins as drugs. Since proteins are known to be involved in essentially all biological processes and reactions, they represent a promising class of therapeutics. Administration of these classes of drugs to humans is formidable challenge for biotechnologist as well as pharmacist. The biggest problems lying in their governance are physical and chemical instability, poor bioavailability and lack of knowledge for delivering them. These problems can be solved by using the aquasomes. Aquasomes combines biotechnology and nanotechnology approaches. These sugar balls are the recent addition in delivery systems that have wider applications in peptide and protein delivery. Aquasomes are three-layered self-assem bled nanostructures. They contain solid nanocrystalline core lile calcium phosphate coated with polyhydroxy oligomers over which peptide and protein are adsorbed. The carbohydrate coating protects the peptide from dehydration and stabilizes the active peptide molecules. Structural stability is provided by solid core. Aqausomes maintains the conformational integrity of peptide which makes it ideal carrier system for delivery of peptides. In the proposed work Aquasomes, a novel nano drug delivery system compassing of hydroxy apatite (HA) core having carbohydrate coating will be prepared. Urokinase will be immobilized on these nanostructures for thromobolytic therapy. The prepared systems will be characterized for size, shape, size distribution, enzyme loading efficiency, and in vivo performance. The in vivo performance of the formulated aquasome will be compared with standard urokinase preparation. In Aquasome the steric hindrance is provided by polyhydroxyoligomers between enzyme and blood component (Plasma protein). Later RES cells assist in removing exogenous material from blood stream .The polyhydroxy oligomers maintain three dimensional conformation of enzyme and also helps in deferring recognizition from RES cells. Therefore it is proposed that aquasome not only act as dehydroprotectant but also preserve the three dimensional conformation of enzyme in blood, which enhanced dramatically the half-life of enzyme. So it is expected that proposed system can add new dimension in delivery of urokinase through its rapid onset of action, maximal efficacy and safety Research background including Problem Statement, Hypothesis/Research Questions, Literature Reviews, Related References and Relevance to Goverment Policy, if any. Problem statement Urokinase is a serine protease enzyme which is widely used as an anti-thromboembolic drug in thrombolytic therapy. Urokinase is a strong plasminogen activator. Activation of plasmin activates a proteolysis cascade which breaks down the fibrin polymers of blood clots. This makes urokinase a very important drug against vascular diseases.Urokinase has a half-life of 10-20 mins in plasma. Due to which it is needed to given patient in a short time span for treatment.2 These problems can be solved by using the aquasomes. Aquasomes combines biotechnology and nanotechnology approaches. These sugar balls are the recent addition in delivery systems that have wider applications in peptide and protein delivery. Aquasomes are three-layered self-assembled nanostructures. They contain solid nanocrystalline core like calcium phosphate coated with polyhydroxy oligomers over which peptide and protein are adsorbed. The carbohydrate coating protects the peptide from dehydration and stabilizes the active peptide molecules. Structural stability is provided by solid core. Aqausomes maintains the conformational integrity of peptide which makes it ideal carrier system for delivery of peptides.3,4 Hypothesis Urokinase is a thrombolytic enzyme having half life of 10-20 minutes. In the present work is an attempt is to retain the spatial properties of streptokinase i.e. three-dimensional conformation, which is a freedom internal molecular rearrangement generated by intermolecular interaction and a freedom of bulk movement. Using aquasomes a high degree of molecular preservation may be achieved by virtue of the significant degree of retained biological activity. The aquasomes also avoid the elimination of drug by reticuloendothelial system therefore sustained delivery of drug may be achieved, and a circulating bioreactor could possibly be developed which may be used as preventive measure to avoid probable vascular embolism Research Questions Is it possible to immobilize Urokinase on aquasomes? Do Aquasmoes will be able to preserve the activity of Urokinase? Is it possible to achieve sustain release of urokinase with aquasomes after PEGylation? Is it possible to use similar platform for other peptide drugs? Literature review Current status of research and development in the subject Kossovsky et al.5( 1995) reported first synthesis of aquasomes for delivery of protein antigen and mussel adhesive protein. After that around fifteen research publications were appeared in scientific community utilizing aquasomes for peptide and drug delivery. Recently Aquasomes were used in delivery of peptide and drugs like insulin6 and indomethacin.7 Vyas et al.8 also used aquasomes for hepatitis antigen delivery. The relevance and expected outcome of the proposed study Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common and potentially life threatening condition which is still under diagnosed and undertreated.VTE treatment is full of risk as patient requires precise dosing of drugs with careful monitoring.9 Due to these problems in last decade lot of studies were done for developing novel antithrombotic agents. Urokinase is a serine protease (EC 3.4.21.73) enzyme which is also called urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). It is a thromobolytic agent. It was originally isolated from human urine, but it is also found in blood stream and the extracellular matrix. Urokinase directly activates conversion of plasminogen to plasmin which is a primary protein accountable for fibrinolysis.10 Urokianse has a half-life of 10-20 mins due to which it is not available in body for longer time. There is urgent need of a carrier which can carry the urokinase for longer time. Aquasomes is an answer for this need. As it carry the peptide with full retention of therapeutic activity for longer time. So there is a need of developing a drug delivery system for delivery of Urokinase in sustain manner11 It is projected that propose system can add new dimension in delivery of urokianse through its rapid onset of action, maximal efficacy and safety. References Degim IT, Celebi N. Controlled delivery of peptides and proteins. Curr Pharm Des 2007;13:99-117 Erdogan S, Ozer AY, and Bilgili H. In vivo behaviour of vesicular urokinase. Int. J. Pharm.2005 295: 1–6 Juliano RL. Microparticulate drug carriers: liposomes, microspheres and cells. In: Robinson JR, Lee VHL, editors. Controlled drug delivery. 2nd ed. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.; 2005. p. 555-80. Rawat M, Singh D, Saraf S, Saraf S. Nanocarriers: promising vehicles for bioactive drugs. Biol Pharm Bull 2006; 29:1790-8. Kossovsky N, Gelman A, Rajguru S, Nguyan R, Sponsler E, Hnatyszyn CK, et al. Control of molecular polymorphism by a structured carbohydrate/ceramic delivery vehicle-aquasomes. J Control Release 1996; 39:383-8. Cherian AK, Rana AC, Jain SK. Self-assembled carbohydrate-stabilized ceramic nanoparticles for the parenteral delivery of insulin. Drug Dev Ind Pharm 2000;26:459-63. Oviedo RI, Lopez SAD, Gasga RJ, Barreda CTQ. Elaboration and structural analysis of aquasomes loaded with indomethecin. Eur J Pharm Sci 2007; 32:223-30. Vyas SP, Goyal AK, Rawat A, Mahor S, Gupta PN, Khatri K.Nanodecoy system: a novel approach to design hepatitis B vaccine for immunopotentiation. Int J Pharm 2006; 309:227-33. Agarwal S, Lee AD, Raju RS, Stephen E. Venous thromboembolism: A problem in the Indian/Asian population? Indian J Urol 2009; 25:11-6. Agarwal Y.K, Vaidya H, Bhatt H, Manna K, Brahmkshatriya P Recent Advances in the Treatment of Thromboembolic Diseases: Venous Thromboembolism Medicinal Research Reviews, 2007 ; 27:891-914, Kaur K,Kush P,Pandey RS,Madan J,Jain UK,Katare OP Stealth lipid coated aquasomes bearing recombinant human interferon-ÃŽ ±-2b offered prolonged release and enhanced cytotoxicity in ovarian cancer cells.2015; 59 :267–276 (b) Objective (s) of the Research Urokinase is an unstable (half-life of 10-20 mins) enzyme. Pharmacist plays and important role in their stabilization, formulation and effective delivery. Over all aim of this study is to develop urokinase immobilized aquasome. Aquasome will protect urokinase from degradation and dehydration. It will also enhance and sustain its thrombolytic activity with reduced side effects. Specific objectives will be 1. To synthesize aquasomes having different compositions. Aquasomes with different sugar coating will be synthesized. Sucrose, Trehalose , Lactose and Pyrodoxial-5-phospahte will be used for sugar coating. Characterization of these nanoparticulte system will done using Transmission electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy, Zetasizer and X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD). Determination of particle morphology and distribution size analysis of nanoparticles will be performed. 2 To immobilize urokinase on aquasomes and coating of PEGylated phospholipids Optimization of aquasome formulations for maximum loading of enzyme will be performed. Enzyme activity will be measured for immobilized enzyme and later they will be coated with PEGylated phospholipids for sustain release. 3. Characterization of these nanoparticulte systems after immobilization will be performed using Transmission electron microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy and Zetasizer 3. In-Vitro evaluation of aquasomal formulations Aquasomal formulations will evaluated for protein (Urokinase) release. (c) Methodology The envisaged work shall be undertaken on the following lines (1) Preformulation studies 1.1. Identification test for proteins IR spectroscopy SDS PAGE 1.2. Identification Test of Formulation Adjuvants (Sugars) Molish Test Moore’s Test Polarimetric determination of sugars 1.3. Preparation of calibration curve of adjuvants (Trehalose and Cellobiose) 1.4. Preparation of calibration curve of Enzyme as a Protein 1.5 Preparation of Calibration curve of Enzyme in PBS (pH 7.4) and Plasma (2) Preparation and Characterization of Hydroxy Apatite 2.1 Optimization of the method for the preparation of Hydroxy Apatite 2.1.1 Characterization of Hydroxy Apatite prepared by self-precipitation Size and Shape e.g TEM and SEM Crystal properties e.g XRD 2.1.2 Preparation and Characterization of Aquasome 2.1.3 Optimization of the poly hydroxyl Oligomers concentration on Hydroxy Apatite 2.1.4 Optimization of drying condition 2.1.5 Optimization of Protein concentration 2.16 Characterization of Optimized Aquasome formulation. Confirmation of poly hydroxyl Oligomers coating by Zeta Potential measurement Determination of loading efficiency of various Aquasome formulations In-vitro release rate studies Assessment of Biodegradability of Different Formulation Retention of Enzyme Activity Reaction Kinetics of Aquasome adsorbed Urokinase Urokinase specific Antibody Detection (3) Stability studies of prepared formulation SDS-PAGE Storage Stability Expected Results/Benefit It is expected that proposed formulation will retain the spatial properties of urokinase i.e. three-dimensional conformation, which is basically achieved by freedom of internal molecular rearrangement for intermolecular interaction and without any bulk movement. Using carbohydrate based aquasomes a high degree of molecular preservation may be achieved by virtue of the significant degree of retained biological activity. The aquasomes also avoid the elimination of drug by reticuloendothelial system therefore sustained and controlled delivery of drug may be achieved. Therefore, it is aim to develop an Aquasome system being streptokinase to protect drug from degradation and dehydration as well as to enhance and sustain its biological activity with reduced side effects. It will help us in getting preliminary results which will be very useful in writing big research project grants to other funding agencies. It is also expected that this research work will allows us to publish quality publications.

Perception In Humans Vs Computer

Perception In Humans Vs Computer The Essay which I am going to write is about Minds and Computers. Here I will explain that what is a human mind, what a computer is and what is a relation between them. Its all about the idea of constructing or developing artificial intelligence. This question of possibility is not limited only to construction of such an advanced technology which will possess artificial intelligence and will act in a manner as human can do but is also a philosophical question. The word perception comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means receiving, collecting, and action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses. [1] Humans perceive through their minds and senses. So how human mind or human brain works? According to Hippocrates (the father of Medicine) Man should be fully aware of the fact that it is from the brain and from the brain only that our feelings of joy, of pleasure, of laughing arise as well as our sorrow, our pain, our grief and our tears. We are thinking with the brain and we can see and hear and we are able to draw a distinction between ugliness and beauty, bad and good what is pleasant and unpleasant. A computer is defined as a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data, and provides output in a useful format. So how a computer perceive? The answer to this question is that computer perceives through knowledge of Artificial intelligence. Is it possible for a computer to learn and becomes capable like humans, to learn from observing the environments, is it possible that computer learn by trial and error basis. In Artificial intelligence some developers have developed robots that claims that are able and that they can learn like a newborn human baby can do. In my opinion it is not only the problem that is bound to software but also to hardware that hinder the growth in computer technology. As compared to human brain a super computer is unable to take off the powers of a human mind. In recent years, there was a rapid increase in the improvement and development of electronic race. Day by day the computational speed of electronic computer is increasing. The main focus in this electronic era is to make computers smaller and faster in processing. Transistors replaced the vacuum tubes and then transistors were also replaced by smaller and tiny integrated circuits. With the passage of time all these circuits are incorporated to microchips. The recent advancement in computer technology is forcing humans to think about such computers/robots that will match humans in performance and capabilities. Lets have a comparison between human brain and computer that whether computer is capable to learn and adopt more or human. Human brain is capable to receive a lot of information at real time from all the senses at constant rate, so its natural that human is able to adopt and learn more quickly from its environment and its surroundings. Human brain is capable to get a lot of information of the surroundings only in a single glance that will help the brain to respond in a quick way. Human brain is able to learn by mistakes, by errors, by experiences that may be good or bad and it is due to this learning that makes him capable of dealing with situation efficiently. It is the common judgment of many peoples that human brain as compare to computer is far more superior in acquiring new skills and techniques. On the other hand, the human brain requires more time to espouse to changes like erudition of more skills and quitting of old once. The more we do a particular work repeatedly the more easily it gets. If an individual does the same work for a longer time he gets used to it, than he can even do it subconscio usly and it becomes a habit for him. Computers are getting more and smarter with the passage of time. Computers are capable to learn anything that the computer programmers want to feed it in research centers. Different engines like voice recognition systems are developed in order to nourish the program with different voices that it could pick up patterns in speech, the accents and slangs and that it should recognize them. Another Engine is optical character recognition which is able to pick and choose up fresh information and patterns as it scrutinize the dissimilar styles of writing from its constantly growing database. Some programs are now able to classify between objects, it can place and recognize that object accordingly with their patterns and shapes to different categories. The perception rate of computer is increasing day by day. Some computer programs are now capable of learning and seeking by trail and errors, they learns from their mistakes and then they records a best solution in its database to tackle that problem or error for future reference. The ways in which computers are learning or we can say the computer learning techniques are getting better day by day and it is progressing in the right direction especially with the stop towards learning by using perceptions. Computer is progressing towards a big revolution and is now able to use the two most important senses that is senses like sight and sounds. It will be not too far that computer will learn and will be able to observe environment and will learn from examples. So who is more capable human or computer? Who is better in performance and capabilities? In my opinion a computer cannot over cross a brain and a brain well remain winner and is winner. There are a lot of fields in which a brain is more powerful than a computer. A brain is only less efficient when it is used for only one purpose or specific function. The brain completely depends on how we make it. When it come to calculations and memorizing, computer lefts brain behind. As now we are somehow up to some extent familiar with what a mind and a brain is. Now I will explain some philosophical problems in artificial intelligence. All these problems are associated with consciousness and emotions. As we all know that human possesses consciousness. Consciousness is defined as The ability or state of being aware especially of something within oneself, the state or fact of being conscious of an external object, state, or fact. However it can be used in many different ways. It is occasionally used to refer to our alertness of certain actions or processes that we are conscious of. Sometimes it refers to the ability of awareness of our own selfs and also the way in which we distinguish ourselves to the rest of the world. In the paper Replication of the Hard Problem of Consciousness in AI and Bio-AI: An Early Conceptual Framework by Nicholas Boltuc and Piotr Boltuc they are suggesting that a machine can be equipped with phenomenal consciousness. According to their claim if we know how a phenomenal consciousness works and if we are able to understand its precise operation it is possible to instantiate it in a machine. This is very significant claim; the reason behind this is that if it is true it would discredit the privileged access problem of first-person consciousness. It will cast as an empirical problem of science and not a fundamental question of philosophy. In my personal opinion they did not presented any logical argument about the implementation of human consciousness in a machine. In my personal opinion it is impossible to preclude a machine with human consciousness. We cannot call a computer to be intelligent unless until it does possesses common sense. It is impossible for a computer to adopt common sense because human common sense works on know-how basis. For example, as we know that A Bird in Hand is better than two in the Bush is all related to common sense, yet it is impossible to ride a bicycle through knowledge or by teaching. All we get is our experiences. It is impossible that without experience u will ride a bicycle just by knowing its procedures. It is not because of knowledge that we can eat an apple in darkness. If it is because of knowledge than we would need some parameters to locate our mouth, like the angle of our hand, the position of our mouth, the speed with which our hand is moving etc. All these things we cannot attained without experience.Recent computers are only able to represent things. In my opinion it is difficult to transfer them skills and emotions. This is a large problem in the field of artificial intelligence. Is it possible to mimic intelligence? Is it possible to copy a significant amout of thought and planing to paste it in a computer. In my opinion no such thing exist as to mimic intelligence. I think it is not possible to copy intelligence because still we are not hundred percent able to know that how our minds works. Till now some questions related to brain like its functionings are yet unanswered. There is a doubt about the explanatory power of computers programs, Even though if a program makes a computer capable of what a human can do. For example, like understing and talking English, or describing some images, which forces us to think about a question that whether a computer program is doing it in the same way as we humans are doing. Still its not clear that whether the program is correctly explaning our abilities. As we know that existing computers do not do things as we do, it physical level they employe on transistors, interpreters or compilers, computer follows these instructions blindly and there is no evidance that humans do this. The notion that computers can do in the same way as humans do is systamatically ambiguous. Even it is not possible between two different persons. An arithmatical question calculated by different persons may be same, if they both use the same logarithms, but it will be different if they both are using it in a different bases. This notion does not apply in case of computers because there is no such level for computers at which he do it in the same way as we do it. We cannot say that a pakistani is playing chess in different way than a swedish, because of the fact that the language that is used is different. In case of stratigies both can have different stratigies. It should be noted that every human does not do things in one way they may fallow different ways to approach a problem, whether its all about playing chess, remembering names, soving problems, perceiving faces, or understanding of a particular language. So it is not reasonable to deny that in a computer simulation which is very much complex. I dont think that it is possible to simulate every aspect of human mind to a computer program. How is it possible for a computer to feel thirst, to feel naunsance, sexual desires, the feeling to dance, or the feeling which one gets one he is going to loose his balance while walking on ice, to feel hungry, to feel love, to feel sympathy, to feel proud and a lot more which humans feel. It is not possible to construct a computer that will be capable to feel as humans feel. There are much more peoples who are dreaming for the day to see that mans own thinking creation can take a human form. Who can be a true friend, who will always keep your secrets and will always listen to what ever you say, and it will be your best servant without demanding for leave, or even it can do a lot of things for you from research to minor calculations, all these services without demanding for salaries. There are much more peoples who feels fear because of different possibilities of AI. Espacially the ones who thinks that what will happen if it goes wrong as we have seen it in some of the blockbuster movies. Movies like the Matrix, the teminator, the cyborg, universal soldiers, eye robot and a lot more. They all tells us the stories about when artificial intelligence goes bad. Movie or no movie, all we should worry about is that anything can happen. I am not arguing that what the story writers want to say is correct or incorrect. The fact which all know is that there is a lot of differnce between God made and Human made thing.

The New Teenage Parent Essay -- Essays Papers

The New Teenage Parent I originally wrote this essay as an assignment for Monique DuFour's class about how we classify different groups of people. I think that the part of the student population that are parents (especially single parents) are often forgotten by the University as a whole. I say this because there are very few, if any, programs that recognize and cater to the needs of parents/students that may need a little extra help, with time or financially. As I revised this essay, I tried to think of ways that I could speak to a larger audience and raise general awareness on this issue. A young man is at a party. He reaches in his pocket for some money, but he smiles to himself and pulls out a pacifier. He's a young single father. A young woman is playing on the lawn with a little boy, tickling him and laughing as he giggles. He's not her little brother. . . he's her son. Even more than being single parents, these are real people and have been or are currently students in college. I naturally feel that what I have to say is important because I am one of these people. I have a two-year old son, Jaymen. I also want you, the reader, to know that we, the young single parents who are a part of the United States, New York State, Syracuse and even closer to home, Syracuse University, are definitely more than statistics. I could tell my story and try to prove that to you, but that would not be a multi-faceted account of what being a single parent is. When I use the term, single parent, I am keeping in mind the literal meaning of single--unmarried. I am not excluding support of the other parent in any situation. When I add the word young to it, I am referring to a male or female whose child was born while they wer... ...ie, which ended in divorce five years later. She went to nursing school part-time, while working various kinds of jobs. She remarried while in school and finished nursing school when she was in her early thirties. Her son, Anthony, has finished high school and is now in the Marines. He's twenty-one now. She's divorced and now working as a traveling nurse. She never had any more children. The list of success stories for young single parents go on and on. Just because a person has made a mistake in the past does not mean that the future has to be a life full of mistakes. The saying, "Life is what you make it," is true. There is a difference, however. The extra incentive to work hard is to look into the big brown eyes of a child that you helped to create and realize that you have to be a good example and teach them to make their lives a little better than yours was. The New Teenage Parent Essay -- Essays Papers The New Teenage Parent I originally wrote this essay as an assignment for Monique DuFour's class about how we classify different groups of people. I think that the part of the student population that are parents (especially single parents) are often forgotten by the University as a whole. I say this because there are very few, if any, programs that recognize and cater to the needs of parents/students that may need a little extra help, with time or financially. As I revised this essay, I tried to think of ways that I could speak to a larger audience and raise general awareness on this issue. A young man is at a party. He reaches in his pocket for some money, but he smiles to himself and pulls out a pacifier. He's a young single father. A young woman is playing on the lawn with a little boy, tickling him and laughing as he giggles. He's not her little brother. . . he's her son. Even more than being single parents, these are real people and have been or are currently students in college. I naturally feel that what I have to say is important because I am one of these people. I have a two-year old son, Jaymen. I also want you, the reader, to know that we, the young single parents who are a part of the United States, New York State, Syracuse and even closer to home, Syracuse University, are definitely more than statistics. I could tell my story and try to prove that to you, but that would not be a multi-faceted account of what being a single parent is. When I use the term, single parent, I am keeping in mind the literal meaning of single--unmarried. I am not excluding support of the other parent in any situation. When I add the word young to it, I am referring to a male or female whose child was born while they wer... ...ie, which ended in divorce five years later. She went to nursing school part-time, while working various kinds of jobs. She remarried while in school and finished nursing school when she was in her early thirties. Her son, Anthony, has finished high school and is now in the Marines. He's twenty-one now. She's divorced and now working as a traveling nurse. She never had any more children. The list of success stories for young single parents go on and on. Just because a person has made a mistake in the past does not mean that the future has to be a life full of mistakes. The saying, "Life is what you make it," is true. There is a difference, however. The extra incentive to work hard is to look into the big brown eyes of a child that you helped to create and realize that you have to be a good example and teach them to make their lives a little better than yours was.

Hitler Essay -- essays research papers

Adolft Hitler HITLER, Adolf (1889-1945). The rise of Adolf Hitler to the position of dictator of Germany is the story of a frenzied ambition that plunged the world into the worst war in history. Only an army corporal in World War I, Hitler became Germany's chancellor 15 years later. He was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria, of German descent. His father Alois was the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber. In middle age Alois took the name Hitler from his paternal grandfather. After two wives had died Alois married his foster daughter, Klara Poelzl, a Bavarian, 23 years younger than he. She became Adolf's mother. Hitler's rambling, emotional autobiography 'Mein Kampf' (My Struggle) reveals his unstable early life. His father, a petty customs official, wanted the boy to study for a government position. But as young Hitler wrote later, "the thought of slaving in an office made me ill . . . not to be master of my own time." Passively defying his father, the self-willed boy filled most of his school hours with daydreams of becoming a painter. His one school interest was history, especially that of the Germans. When his teacher glorified Germany's role, "we would sit there enraptured and often on the verge of tears." From boyhood he was devoted to Wagner's operas that glorified the Teutons' dark and furious mythology. Failure dogged him. After his father's death, when Adolf was 13, he studied watercolor painting, but accomplished li...

freedol Noras Freedom in Ibsens A Dolls House Essay -- Dolls House

Nora's Freedom in A Doll's House        Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps we have all felt the urge to "escape" to some tropical paradise. However, as individuals we have responsibilities and obligations to school, friends and family. These responsibilities and obligations usually keep us from "escaping". It is difficult to balance our personal need for freedom with our responsibility to others.   In Henrik Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, the character of Nora Helmer had suffered greatly to achieve her personal freedom.    A woman of the Victorian period, Nora Helmer was both a prisoner of her time as well as a pioneer. In her society women were viewed as a inferior to men and were not provided full legal rights. Women of that era were expected to stay at home and attend to the needs of their spouse and children. Nora was a free spirit just waiting to spread her wings; her husband Torvald would constantly disallow the slightest pleasures that she aspired to have, such as macaroons. (TEACHER COMMENT: THIS STATEMENT WOULD HAVE A BETTER EFFECT IF IT WERE DIRECTLY QUOTED FROM THE PLAY.)    Nora lived a life of lies in order to hold her marriage together. She kept herself pleased with little things such as telling Dr. Rank and Mrs. Linde, "I have such a huge desire to say-to hell and be damned" (Ibsen 59)! She did this just so she could release some tension that was probably building inside her due to all the restrictions that Torvald had set up, such as forbidding macaroons. The need for her to consume these macaroons behind her controlling husband's back was a way for her to satisfy her sense of needing to be an independent woman.    Upon the arrival of her old friend Kristine Linde, Nora took it upon herself to find her friend a job... ...ority says, or what's written in books. I have to think over these things myself and try to understand them (Ibsen 111).         In her leaving and the abandoning of her family and the memories that coincide with them, Nora was able to gain her freedom as an individual and was now in search for new responsibilities. We all have wanted to go out on our own and fulfill our responsibility to ourselves. However our need to find our individuality can lead to our downfall, or our success. In Ibsen's play, A Doll's House, an estranged wife, Nora Helmer; suffered to become an individual in her own right and took accountability for her actions to achieve her freedom.    Work Cited: Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Introduction to Literature: Reading, Analyzing, and Writing.2nd ed. Ed. Dorothy   U. Seyler and Richard A. Wilan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1990.

A Sermon Review

The preacher’s approach in delivering his sermon was rather argumentative than expository. The first two main points were built around sub-points which argued that God never change. First, unlike man and everything on earth that alters changes, the preacher says â€Å"God is perpetually the same.†Although we do not know what substance that is which we call God, the preacher emphasized that his essence never change. Second, Spurgeons Argued that God’s attribute never changes. He meant that God’s moral attributes such as his mighty power, his omnipotence, his wisdom, and all the powers of God during the beginning of the world never ever changes even with the passing of time.God is ever the same and he never grow old, He never becomes weak nor has his power diminished as the time passed. Third, the preacher argues that God’s plan never changed. That is, his plan for the world and for every creations including the human beings and He is set to fulfill h is plan.The fourth sub-point talks about God’s promises in which Spurgeons argued that God never change his promises. That we can count on God’s promise and the best way of living in this world is to trust in God’s promises.Finally, Spurgeons argued that God is unchanging in his threatenings against ungodly and sinners. That is, when God says â€Å"Those who will not believe shall be damned† and when they are thrown to hell, it will forever and will never ever change despite of the passing of million ages.The preacher emphasized that God’s unchanging character is a depiction of God’s perfection and eternity. That is, if God changes, He could not be perfect anymore and he could not also be eternal. Spurgeons also argued that God as infinite being sees to it that all his words in the past are fulfilled despite of times that passed. Citing the towns and cities that God said will fall, and it happened, it means that God promises and the fulfillm ent of his words transcend beyond time and ages.The content and breadth of the sermon  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The content and breadth of the sermon was more of a devotional rather than theological although the sermon also reflects significant theological issues. However, it appears that the content of the sermon was not meant to give a lecture on theology but to emphasize on God’s immutable characteristic so that we can trust God for He is a very reliable God. That is, the sermon was intended to strengthen the faith of the congregation rather that to feed them with theological arguments.The context by which the sermon was given was the period of the great industrialization which means that people during this period were amazed by the introduction of new technologies. This was the time when people look at knowledge as power. In view of this, I could say that the breadth of the sermon was deep and sound with the preacher contending that despite of everything that was coming out of society, God is still the same powerful God and everyone must heed his words and threatening.The depth of his sermonThe depth of his sermon as it appears to me was just fit to the situation and to need of the people during his time. The sermon was neither narrow nor too deep but was more practical and easy to understand even by the least educated listener. Nevertheless the sermon was powerful enough to convince the listeners that God do exist eternally, that He never change, and that we could hold on to his promises.

Christmas Carol Essay

The light represents a sense of alertness to show that Scrooge has done great harm and hope. This quote also opens the sight to the audience of Scrooge’s past time and why he is the way he currently is. The Cratchit’s are an example of the impoverished people who, Dickens felt, were very honest. The poor people were never too worried about getting more than enough but just wanted something decent to live on. The clothes they whore were past down from parents or older siblings. The food was shared equally so that no one would be left too hungry, all these actions make the poor increase their love for each other. Dickens shows this when: ‘There was nothing very cheerful in the climate(†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ) Yet there was an air of cheerfulness abroad’ This quote shows that even though the weather and atmosphere was very dull, the Cratchits still were happy for the sake of Christmas. This shows that Dickens is emphasizing that the poor had good characters, because they made the most of what they could and hardly complained whilst on the other hand the rich weren’t so graceful. Dickens clearly shows that the rich are greedy and do what will benefit them so they live in a crafty way to get more money. The rich do more and more to feel satisfied but they still want more which leaves them with corrupt lives. In this manner the rich never see the real wonder and beauty of life. This is shown by Dicken’s through the character of Scrooge when Scrooge has never been to Bob Cratchit’s house. Here he sees how the Cratchits, despite being very poor, can be happy at Christmas. Bob and Mrs. Cratchit struggle because their family is large: there are six children. Scrooge sees how frail Tiny Tim is and asks the Spirit if he will live. The ghost tells him that unless something changes in the future, the child will die. This makes Scrooge feel bad and some emotions in Scrooge’s feelings are shown. Later on in this stave the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to Fred’s house. Fred is having a party and Scrooge is brought by the spirit to see and hear it to show him the benefit of a warm family life and that money could be used to share love and happiness. Scrooge’s nephew Fred says: â€Å"his offences carry their own punishment†. This quote shows that whoever does evil, then evil will come back to him, in this case Scrooge has no care for the poor and so he is punished by being lonely with no family or friends. It also shows how Fred does not have any ill feelings towards his uncle. This quote suggests that Dickens felt that the rich weren’t always happy and secure because of their possessions but needed respect for who they were, to be happy. Fred is a very generous rich man and Dickens shows that not every rich person was selfish and greedy but some were kind and caring. Dickens shows you could be rich of love and happiness with family and friends, even for the poor. Dickens explains this through the character of Fred when we are told: ‘Scrooge is to be pitied, not despised. He is rich but his money does him no good’ This quote shows that the rich were not always seen as the mighty, glorious people in the Victorian times but some were seen as being very low. The second part of the quote clearly emphasizes that money couldn’t buy everything. But in some circumstances money was a hindrance. Dickens also shows us that having all the money and wealth in the world cannot make you as joyous as being generous and kind. Dickens emphasizes this in his novel through the character Mr. Fezzywig, who is a very generous rich man, who had great love and joy. At this point in the novel, Scrooge is more emotional about how he has treated other people. He finds out that the Cratchits are happier than he had assumed but are suffering severely especially Tiny Tim. He finds out the truth of how his nephew really feels about him. However he knows that he has one more journey to go to and that is the future. The Ghost of Christmas future brings a sense of fear into the scenes, because of the way he only points but doesn’t speak and his head is covered with a hood. ‘The phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached’ This shows that Dickens was very serious about the issues of poverty and that he wanted everyone to know how horrific it was to be so greedy and not give anything to the poor. The quote shows us that something dreadful is to come. Similarly Dickens criticizes the rich who do not give to the poor by saying that they will have no one to care for them when they are feeble. Dickens shows this when the old woman says: ‘I thought he’d never die. ‘ This quote shows that Dickens is emphasizing how desperate people will be to get rid of such selfish, tight fisted people who have no care for others. The quote has a very strong message because it illustrates how worthless money can make a person. Dickens shows this worthlessness of money if not used properly can make a rich person worthless. This is shown when: ‘It’s likely to be a very cheap funeral’ This quote shows that people did not care about this person who has died. Dickens’ message here is that no matter how rich you are, you will not be worth a penny if you are careless and greedy. Scrooge gets scared and worried of what he sees. Scrooge shows lots of emotion, this is shown with: ‘In his agony he caught the spectral hand. ‘ This quote shows that Scrooge has become very feeble of his feelings because he has finally realized how dreadful of a person he has been. Dickens uses ‘agony’ to show the amount of pain and misery a greedy person’s death would be. In conclusion, Scrooge learned that money isn’t everything and that being generous and respectful to others is the most important thing. Scrooge also learns that family and friends come before money and business. In the following century society had many improvements such as benefits for the elderly and disabled. Most of these improvements were made into society after World War 2. This was mainly due to that in the world war, both the poor and rich fought together as one nation. Therefore the rich got to know the poor better and money was shared to provide for all the people so they could help in the war. Food rations were one of these schemes, so the world wars had a huge impact on how society was treated. In the modern society we live in there are many changes due to everybody contributing such as taxes. However in the Victorian times society was very closed and the message Dickens was trying to get over was that everyone should help each other whether poor or rich. There are many modern day Scrooge’s we can refer to even though it’s been over a century since Dickens era. However the Scrooge’s we can refer to in this century have been the more clever, sneaky one’s. An example of this is when DNA was discovered. The men who were seen as discoverer’s were Watson and Crick. However the real people behind the scenes actually made this discovery but the credit and glory was all given to Watson and Crick. Unlike in Dickens times, the modern society’s can get hold of money easily but nowadays it is more about pride and glory. Similarly of how poverty was present in Victorian England it still exists in the third world such as Africa but the Scrooge’s are known as the politicians however the poor are still the public.