Arts in Schools Essay

Arts in Schools Essay Arts in Schools Essay A child’s education cannot rely on reading and math alone. A wide range of educational opportunities need to be made available to a child to allow them to explore their talents and interests, whether it be through arts programs, athletics programs, or other activities outside of subjects on standardized tests. Not every student wants to be an engineer or scientist and those children should not be denied opportunities in their education. Creativity in the classroom plays a big role in how children involve themselves in their studies, social lives, and home lives. It is an important part of education and should be valued more. Many people believe that the arts are a waste of time and aren’t going to land you a stable job in the future. What they don’t realize is that having knowledge in different arts, benefits students in different parts of their lives. Including in the classroom where they learn math and science. Not only does having knowledge in the arts stimula te and develop the imagination and critical thinking, but it also refines cognitive and creative skills. Whilst other students might solve a problem based solely on logic, students with a knowledge in the arts can look at that same problem both logistically, and creatively providing them with more insight on the problem. Arts knowledge also has a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child, and has proven to help level the learning field across socio-economic boundaries. It strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, adds to overall academic achievement and school success. When a student is involved in artistic thinking, it truly teaches them life skills, such as developing an informed perception, articulating a vision, learning to solve problems, and make decisions. Not only this, but it also aids in building self-confidence and self-discipline, developing the ability to imagine what might be, and accepting responsibility to complete tasks from start to finish. Being in any type of arts program, whether it’s acting, or dancing, film, or general art, self-confidence and self-discipline are strongly provided. With open arms, art programs accept any student that might be having a hard time in school, or at home, and gives them something to be proud of. Whether it be a painting they painted or performing in the school play, being in an art program lets you use your passion and soul to make or do something that you are proud of. By painting, training, or practicing hard, the student achieves their goal using self-discipline for in the arts, you can only be as good as you yourself try. Art programs throughout the world give any students the right to speak what is on their minds and in their hearts and to not be judged, but praised for it. Creativity, soul, heart, passion, hard-work are just some examples of what the arts can give back to you. Having art programs in schools is essential. A very intelligent man named Ken Robinso n made a delightful speech regarding art programs in schools on the website TED.com. Besides being British and hilarious, he makes substantial points and tells such wonderful funny stories! An influential quote from his speech is "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you're not going to come up with anything original." This is quite a true statement. He isn't saying that being creative necessarily means that you are wrong. He is just saying that when being creative, you're willing to take the chance and not care about the results, your answer will be genuine and unique. One extraordinary point he makes in the speech is that as we grow older we are being "educated out of our creativity†. As we go through school we quickly learn that mistakes are terrible, and strive for perfection. Memorizing facts, knowing systems and orders, but what happened to the creativity we had as kids? One last point that he makes, might not be completely true, but is funny and did make some sense. â₠¬Å"Public education is made for making

Obsidian - Volcanic Glass Prized for Stone Tool Making

Obsidian - Volcanic Glass Prized for Stone Tool Making The volcanic glass called obsidian was highly prized in prehistory where ever it was found. The glassy material comes in a range of colors from black to green to bright orange, and it is found everywhere rhyolite-rich volcanic deposits are found. Most obsidian is a deep rich black, but, for example, pachuca obsidian, from a source in Hidalgo and distributed throughout Mesoamerica during the Aztec period, is a translucent green color with a golden yellow sheen to it. Pico de Orizaba, from a source in southeastern Puebla is almost completely colorless. Obsidian Qualities The qualities that made obsidian a favorite trade item are its shiny beauty, its easily worked fine texture, and the sharpness of its flaked edges. Archaeologists are fond of it because of obsidian hydration-a relatively secure (and relatively low cost) way to date the period an obsidian tool was last flaked. Sourcing obsidianthat is to say, discovering where the raw stone from a particular obsidian artifact came fromis typically conducted through trace element analysis. Although obsidian is always made up of volcanic rhyolite, each deposit has slightly different amounts of trace elements in it. Scholars identify the chemical fingerprint of each deposit through such methods as X-ray fluorescence or neutron activation analysis  and then compare that to what is found in an obsidian artifact. Alca Obsidian Alca is  a type of obsidian that is  solid and banded black, gray, maroon brown and bottled black maroon brown, that is found in volcanic deposits in the Andes mountains between 3700-5165 meters (12,140-16,945 feet) above sea level. The largest known concentrations of Alca are at the east rim of the Cotahuasi Canyon and in the Pucuncho basin. The Alca sources are among the most extensive sources of obsidian in South America; only the Laguna de Maule source in Chile and Argentina has comparable exposure.   Three types of Alca, Alca-1, Alca-5 and Alca-7, outcrop on the alluvial fans of the Pucuncho basin. These cannot be discerned with the naked eye, but they can be identified on the basis of geochemical characteristics, identified through ED-XRF and NAA (Rademaker et al. 2013). Stone tool workshops at the sources in the Pucuncho basin have been dated to the Terminal Pleistoceneand stone tools dated to the same 10,000-13,000 year range have been discovered at Quebrada Jaguay on the coast of Peru. Sources For information on dating obsidian ,  see the article on obsidian hydration. See the History of Glass Making, if thats what interests you. For more rock science on the substance, see the geology entry for obsidian. For the heck of it, try the Obsidian Trivia Quiz. Freter A. 1993. Obsidian-hydration dating: Its past, present, and future application in Mesoamerica. Ancient Mesoamerica 4:285-303. Graves MW, and Ladefoged TN. 1991. The disparity between radiocarbon and volcanic glass dates: New evidence from the island of Lanai, Hawaii. Archaeology in Oceania 26:70-77. Hatch JW, Michels JW, Stevenson CM, Scheetz BE, and Geidel RA. 1990. Hopewell obsidian studies: Behavioral implications of recent sourcing and dating research. American Antiquity 55(3):461-479. Hughes RE, Kay M, and Green TJ. 2002. Geochemical and Microwear Analysis of an Obsidian Artifact from the Brown Bluff Site (3WA10), Arkansas. Plains Anthropologist 46(179). Khalidi L, Oppenheimer C, Gratuze B, Boucetta S, Sanabani A, and al-Mosabi A. 2010. Obsidian sources in highland Yemen and their relevance to archaeological research in the Red Sea region. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(9):2332-2345. Kuzmin YV, Speakman RJ, Glascock MD, Popov VK, Grebennikov AV, Dikova MA, and Ptashinsky AV. 2008. Obsidian use at the Ushki Lake complex, Kamchatka Peninsula (Northeastern Siberia): implications for terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene human migrations in Beringia. Journal of Archaeological Science 35(8):2179-2187. Liritzis I, Diakostamatiou M, Stevenson C, Novak S, and Abdelrehim I. 2004. Dating of hydrated obsidian surfaces by SIMS-SS. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 261(1):51–60. Luglie C, Le Bourdonnec F-X, Poupeau G, Atzeni E, Dubernet S, Moretto P, and Serani L. 2006. Early Neolithic obsidians in Sardinia (Western Mediterranean): the Su Carroppu case. Journal of Archaeological Science 34(3):428-439. Millhauser JK, Rodrà ­guez-Alegrà ­a E, and Glascock MD. 2011. Testing the accuracy of portable X-ray fluorescence to study Aztec and Colonial obsidian supply at Xaltocan, Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(11):3141-3152. Moholy-Nagy H, and Nelson FW. 1990. New data on sources of obsidian artifacts from Tikal, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:71-80. Negash A, Shackley MS, and Alene M. 2006. Source provenance of obsidian artifacts from the Early Stone Age (ESA) site of Melka Konture, Ethiopia. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:1647-1650. Peterson J, Mitchell DR, and Shackley MS. 1997. The social and economic contexts of lithic procureent: obsidian from classic-period Hohokam sites. American Antiquity 62(2):213-259. Rademaker K, Glascock MD, Kaiser B, Gibson D, Lux DR, and Yates MG. 2013. Multi-technique geochemical characterization of the Alca obsidian source, Peruvian Andes. Geology 41(7):779-782. Shackley MS. 1995. Sources of archaeological obsidian in the Greater American southwest: An update and quantitative analysis. American Antiquity 60(3):531-551. Spence MW. 1996. Commodity or gift: Teotihuacan obsidian in the Maya region. Latin American Antiquity 7(1):21-39. Stoltman JB, and Hughes RE. 2004. Obsidian in Early Woodland Contexts in the Upper Mississippi Valley. American Antiquity 69(4):751-760. Summerhayes GR. 2009. Obsidian network patterns in Melanesia: Sources, characterisation, and distribution. IPPA Bulletin 29:109-123. Also Known As: Volcanic glass Examples: Teotihuacan and Catal Hoyuk are just two of the sites where obsidian was clearly considered an important stone resource.

HRM - exam preparation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HRM - exam preparation - Essay Example How much of remuneration is to be paid (the absolute level) is important to the extent that it takes care of a person’s minimum needs. Fixing of a minimum wage by an employer or company, or legislating on minimum wages by the Government, therefore focuses on ‘how much’. This ‘how much’ depends on physical variables (what is needed to keep body and soul together) and cultural variables (what is perceived as ‘necessary’) (Here we may refer to the first two levels of Maslow’s Theory of the Hierarchy of Needs — taking care of the physiological and safety needs. Beyond the level of the minimum wage to be paid, equity and fairness should play an important part in determining wages (the relative levels). Further, equity should be ensured without having to sacrifice the other objectives mentioned. Equity and fairness considerations in pay fixation take care of the social and esteem needs (Maslow) of an employee. Both internal and external equity principles (relative fairness of wages of workers in the same organisation, and outside the organisation) should be kept in mind while fixing pay. Rewards (compensation) are of two kinds — direct and indirect. The direct reward is the salary; and indirect rewards are the benefits or perquisites (perks) that an employee gets. Benefits include company provided house, car, medical facilities, company paid holidays, company sponsored study courses and training and so on. Equity or fairness between one employee and another can be maintained by adjusting both the direct or indirect benefits. 1- Modification of input or output to match pay. A person who is underpaid would reduce work effort; a person who is overpaid may work more sincerely and for longer hours without further compensation. A worker may attempt to change the input/ output of others, by asking them to work/not work harder. 2- Workers may adjust

Jacksonian Age religious commotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Jacksonian Age religious commotion - Essay Example For a long time, the government controlled every activity that the church was doing (Sellers 2006). The separation between the church and the state caused a commotion in the religion. Divisions in the church were evident, where each denomination claimed to have power than the other. The main denominations according to the ranking of the majority were Methodist, Presbyterians and the Baptists. It was due to this margin among the religious institution that caused changes in the church. This commotion gave birth to revivalism which was highly welcomed by the Americans. Long before these changes, the Americans used to be attracted by secular meeting organized through camps to gain a social touch, but with the emergence of revival meetings, they diverged their lifestyle to concentrate on revivals (Sellers 2006). Salvation was evident in such meetings, having faith was also encouraged, and as a result, many people gave their lives to God. Each denomination could formulate ways to mak e their revivals unique. For instance, the Baptists came up with the idea of baptism. They argued that, it was vital for the fulfillment of conversion experience (Sellers 2006). Those who were baptized, were convinced of having gained eternal life, hence as a way of maintaining it, they became so loyal to the church. The church at one point started deteriorating in terms of fame in the country. This was due to some actions that were happening in the church which did not make people happy. Business-minded revivalists emerged, using revivals as a source of income. Though giving was a requirement, in the church, American citizens wondered how they could make themselves rich. People who conducted the revivals could not maintain their purity. They were involved in the dirty acts of immorality. Traditional religion The traditional religion in the United States was not forgotten. A good number of Americans believed in things like dreams, fortune tellers, ghosts and

Causes of Occupational Stress

Causes of Occupational Stress Occupational stress can be referred to the physical pressure such as weary as well as body pain (Beehr et al., 2001) ( cited in Nazim Shahid Jan, n.d., p.292) and mentally pressure such as weary, anxiety, depression, insomnia, incurred by oneself occupation or job (Millward, 2005) ( cited in Nazim Shahid Jan, n.d., p.292). There are two types of stress, which are eustress and distress. Eustress, is a positive stress, can motive one to achieve oneself goals whereas distress negatively influences oneself behavior, physical and mental condition (Mcshane, Olekalns Travaglione 2010, p. 139). In fact, there are a number of factors which cause occupational stress. Firstly, employees usually feel pressured when there are overload work tasks to be completed by them (Swaminathan Rajkumar, 2013, p.86). For instance, when an employer distributes a number of difficult tasks to his or her employee to be completed within a short period of time, the employee will usually feel stressed due to the fact that completing the task within a short period of time is beyond the employee’s capability. This can be related to MARS Model where Motivation, Ability, Role perception and Situational factors are considered (Mcshane, Olekalns Travaglione 2010, p. 46-49). The employee may have the motivation and ability as well as a good role perception to perform his or her task, but due to situational factor such as limited time, he or she will feel stressed. For instance, in most of the secondary school, a teacher is responsible for teaching many subjects and the overload work task will definitely make the teacher feel stressed (It takes two: how schools are in vesting in staff teaching additional subjects 2013). Besides, the relationship among employees or between employees and employers also contributes to occupational stress (Causes of work-related stress 2009). This problem commonly happens when a new employee enters into a new job or position. He or she may not be able to get used to the new environment, especially the relationship with new colleagues. New employees will usually feel ignored by his or her colleagues and this problem makes them feel depressed (Common causes of stress at work n.d.). Very often, new employees will also have problem in communicating with new colleagues because of incomprehension of personality to each other (Mcshane, Olekalns Travaglione 2010, p. 345). In Model of Communication, communication barriers are the obstacles, which include perception, filtering, language and excessive information that disturb communication among people (Mcshane, Olekalns Travaglione 2010, p.356-358). For instance, sometimes when new colleagues make fun of a new employee such as kidding with the new employee, the new employee may convert the message received in a wrong way due to his or her perception, different language spoken, excessive information received and so on, in which the employee will think that the new colleagues are trying to insult him or her. Moreover, some employees, who do not have a good communication and relationship with their superiors or employees, are even bullied and suffer from harassment such as sexual harassment by their superior and end up feeling pressured (Tehrani 2002) (cited in Ongori Agolla 2008, p.124). The employees or victims are unable to communicate well or feel shy to communicate with people in a company will usually be the target of bullying by their superiors or colleagues. For example, in Nike company, there is a number of employees has suffered from insult and sexual harassment by their superiors (Nike workers suffer harassment, claims report 2001). Consequently, these victims will end up suffering from stress or feel very pressured whenever they work in their workplace. Job insecurity is also not an exception to be one of the main factors contributing to occupational stress and thus reducing the productivity of employees (Babatunde 2013, p.76). In the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the most important need of human is physiological, followed by security such as job security, socialization, esteem and self-actualization (Mcshane, Olekalns Travaglione 2010, p. 170-171). It is, therefore, clear that job security is necessary for a person. This problem worrying about job insecurity is most commonly faced by employees who are in debts, confront financial liability and difficulties. These employees are usually worried about the problem of unemployment that may occur on them in the future as their current job is very important for them for shouldering certain liabilities or responsibilities such as raising a family. In fact, the problem of employee’s dismissal commonly happens during economic recession, in which the economic is under a bad cond ition (Sandilands n.d.). Therefore, employees’ worries about dismissal usually arise during economic recession. Due to the fact that most of the companies have insufficient revenue to cover their expenses, the companies therefore dismiss some the employees who are not productive in order to reduce their expenses (Windermere n.d.). For example, Nike has planned to dismiss about 1750 workers in order to reduce its expenses by $225 million (Rogoway 2009). Not only that, some of the employees is also worried that their salaries will get deducted as well as being treated unfairly. For instance, the majority of the employees in United Kingdom are most worried about the problem of their salaries reduction, followed by the problem of being unemployed and treated unfairly (Osborne 2013). Therefore, job insecurity is truly undeniable to be one of the major factors which may lead to the occupational stress (Unemployment ‘can lead to depression’ 2011). In actual fact, occupational stress has indeed brought advantages to employees. One of the most common advantages is that a low level of occupational stress can help to improve the working performance of an employee. When an employee has suffered from stress such as a reasonable work submission deadline, he or she will be more initiated or committed to try the very best to complete a task or come out with a well-done output. For example, after Apple company has released its new smartphone, iPhone 5S, Samsung Company then declares that it will also come out with its new smartphone product, Samsung Galaxy S5 which also has the same level of processor (The Fierce Competition Between Samsung And Apple is Still Ongoing n.d.). It is clearly shown that stress has actually motivated Samsung company’s employees to create come out with a good way to compete with Apple Company. Occupational stress, on the other hand, does also incur a number of negative impacts. The typical disadvantage is that occupational stress may harm oneself health condition in term of physical and mental. It is commonly known the symptoms of being overstressed are headache, insomnia, high blood pressure and so on (Hamlett n.d.). In fact, these symptoms also implies that oneself suffer the risk of health problems. If the overstressed issue persists, the employee will get sick and end up reducing his or her productivity. Not only that, the employee will also be unable to fully concentrate on performing his or her tasks as he or she will be distracted by worries at most of the time (Hamlett n.d.). In addition, the issue of occupational stress harming employees’ mental health condition is now increasing at an alarming rate. The mental illness or stress suffered will get serious if it is not cured as soon as possible and will end up causing fatal to the patient such as committing s uicide (Omelas Kleiner 2003) (cited in Ablanedos-Rosas et al. 2011, p. 555). For example, a nurse in Britain committed suicide due to the vicious slander brought by his patient (Work Suicide n.d.). In order to reduce stress temporarily, many people choose to smoke and end up addicted to smoking (Smoking and Mental Health n.d.), consequently increasing the chances of getting lung cancer (Lung cancer risks and causes n.d.). In other words, occupational stress has indirectly led some of the employees to the risk of getting lung cancer. In addition, if the level of an employee’s stress is too high and beyond the capabilities of the employee to control it, adverse effects such as frustration or anxiety may occur and will subsequently lead to a low productivity (Cevizci et al. 2014, p.42). Path-goal theory comprises of four types of leadership style, which are directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented (Mcshane, Olekalns Travaglione 2010, p. 464). The leader of a company should be supportive and considerate to his or her employee. ASA theory consists of 3 ways, which are attraction, selection and attrition. Attraction is that a person is attracted by the culture of a company as the culture company is his or her preferred culture. Selection is that a company selects workers which are able to adapt the culture of the company. Attrition is that a company dismisses the workers who does not adapt to the culture of the company (Mcshane, Olekalns Travaglione 2010, p. 555-556). ASA theory can be us ed to reduce or avoid stress of employees through allowing workers to choose company which are suitable to them, selecting people who can work under stress and dismissing employees who are unable to meet company’s target.

Issues Concerning African Americans and Puerto Ricans Essay

There are four major ethnic, cultural and racial groups present in the United States today. These groups which compose the nation’s population are the African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic and Native Americans or the Non-Hispanic Whites. From the dawn of time, issues of racial profiling have haunted the American Society, although United States of America is said to be the birthplace of patriotism unity and believed to be a nation that will adhere to intense dedication to freedom, justice and equality (Feagin, 1978). The vast diversity of the American population which characterizes the nation’s inhabitants has often resulted to disorder and chaos, as discrimination exists across the nation. Although the government has taken some actions and laws have been made and are implemented, they are not enough to counteract the racism problem at hand which is deeply rooted in the American tradition, as a longer time may deemed necessary before the public become accustomed to a racial free society. If the authorities are keen on abolishing and eliminate racial discrimination, it then important that they see to it that the public would have a better understanding and background of the different ethnic and minority groups. Awareness to their values, customs and traditions are small little steps that may eventually lead to these groups coexistence. For this reason, the paper discusses two of the major groups that play important roles in shaping the United States social structure, the African Americans and the Puerto Ricans. The emergence of Africans Americans or the black Americans population, which are United States residents but with blood lineage from the black racial group of Africa, in the United States can be traced back way before 1800’s as majority of black Americans have their descendants in the United States. While White Americans came to the United States voluntarily, their Black counterparts were not given a choice as majority of the black population came in America as slaves (Feagin, 1978). It is noting to know that among the different ethnics group that come and settled in the United States, African Americans are the only group which have come not in accordance with their own free will. They were used as servants in large agricultural fields. It was believed that the first African American that had entered the borders of the United States settled in Jamestown. Their slavery and the hard labors they performed served as their free passage to the United States as they are compared to English poor people. However during the great American Civil War, by virtue of the proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans became free. But then the post war era, the restoration period, calls for the segregation of blacks from the whites and deteriorates what was supposed to be period of new beginning for the blacks.. In order to free themselves of troubles and violence brought by discrimination, most Black Americans followed the law which dictates racial segregation. However, as violence related to racial discrimination became widespread, calls for abolishing the racial profiling laws also intensify as growing African American heritage and intellect became more evident. The era of civil rights movement which aimed to promote camaraderie and embed equality by eliminating racial discrimination help largely to the Black Americans cause of seeking dignity for their culture and race. Thus, when the Black Power Propaganda was formed a more complex ideology was born as African American seeks for moral dignity, fairness, justice and freedom from white oppression. Today, free from slavery and contributing vastly to economics and politics and enjoying a legal status, Black Americans have enjoyed a great deal of success as they experienced and enjoyed greater rights, far from what were their ancestors have before. However, complete satisfaction and recognition of their rights will have to wait for another few years as white people and custom is still the dominant culture in the United States. The radical change, however, which started from the nineteenth century are strong indications and evidence of the emerging power the African Americans are obtaining. African Americans now have greater access top higher educations and growth in employment as blue and white collar workers are also evident. Disparity between the poverty of black and people have also reduced and many black Americans now have there owned home. However, the sad part is although continuous improvements are achieved each day, black Americans are still at disadvantage with the white people. It can be observed in issues regarding health insurances and benefits and institutional racism, which is very much present especially in middle school’s class. In fact, a report in Rutherford country showed that massive complaints of racial discriminations are filed as parents are alarmed with the growing numbers of black students that are suspended. Compare to their white counterparts, black students continue to be suspended at much higher rates, raising the question of racial discrimination in imposing discipline among the students. In 2006 for instance, 14. 4 % of black students were suspended in the district, which causes a handful of students to lag behind their studies (Scott, 2007). On the other hand rate of suspension for white students stand at 6. 6% (Scott, 2007). Figures and numbers indicate that the rates at which black students are suspended are more than double of the rate at which whites are. This then has poses an alarmed to the black population as their children are put into a disadvantage situation. Just like the African Americans, Puerto Ricans suffer a great deal of oppression and poverty as they occupy the bottom most part of the United States’ social hierarchy for years (Feagin, 1978). They are considered as one of the world’s poorest groups, however, Puerto Rico posses a great link to the Caribbean world and the developing counties across the globe, which the United States social failed to utilize for their own advantage as it failed to realize its importance to the nation. The emergence of the Puerto Rican Ethnic group dates back to the time when the island which was then named as Borinquen, was a colony under the rule of Spain. For 400 years, Spain uses it as a strategic base. The island was a home for different tribes of Taino, however as the Spanish settle with in the island, population of the Indian tribes gradually diminished as generations passed by. Disappearance was due to the fact that Spain used them for forced labor in mines -which causes natives to acquire disease, massive exterminations and racial intermingling and merging. During that time, where in slavery was widespread, large number of African Americans was brought to Puerto to replace the natives as workers. Thus, the present genetic component of a modern Puerto Rican is a mix of Spanish, native Indians and African American. In 1898, as Spain succumb to American power during the Spanish-American War it surrendered Puerto Rico to the United States. Americans deemed Puerto Ricans as ignorant and as result, self governing was denied to them and Puerto Rico become entirely dependent to the US government. Puerto Ricans were left confused politically and culturally as they desperately ask matters about the issue of their citizenship. US Congress however, denied them of acquiring US citizenship relating that Puerto Ricans and Americans should not be treated as equal and they are inferior compare to them. But a year before the US plunged into the World War I, it granted Puerto Ricans US citizenship. With the booming population and stagnant economics, Puerto Rico became one of the poorest countries around the globe in the 1940’s. In an effort to escape the harsh reality of life in the island, many of the population migrated to the United States, bringing with them the hope and the promise of an American Dream. However, the situation would not be different, as immigrants would fail to land jobs and are exploited. Furthermore, housings were prioritized for Native Americans. Language handicapped was also a barrier, which leads to them being discriminated. Puerto Ricans are also identified with Catholicism and Christianity which is teaching based from Spanish colonial times, and since the structure of the American church is Protestant, conflicts often arise. Businessmen of Puerto Rico descends, would often complain of the difficulty in getting loans. With automation starting to engulf the business and industrial sections, Puerto Ricans further sink to the bottom of the social pyramid as they become more isolated, like the black people. There were no opportunities that were presented for them as they lack the skills to land jobs. But then came the era of being unrest, the emergence of Civil Rights Movement and Anti-Poverty Groups in the 1960’s helped Puerto Ricans stimulate and assimilate into the American society, culture and politics (Nash, 2000). The movement and program covers every Puerto Rican and led to astounding solutions to the problems that result from ethnics and cultural differences and inconsistencies which are related to the failure to be in accordance with the dominant American Culture. The emergence of theses groups had opened the eyes of the Puerto Rican public to seek for fair and just treatment and uphold their dignity. Although they have been successful in appealing for changes, after decades of struggling for political representation, culture and customs respect and their placed into the American Society, Puerto Ricans are today just slowly beginning to achieve and realize the progress and results. Whether it is questions about citizenship status, welfare and housing programs, bilingual and multi-cultural education or electoral power, Puerto Ricans had stood the test of time and has proven it is capable of complex assimilation to the dominant American society. However for Puerto Ricans and other ethnic minorities and racial group in America, being subordinate to the dominant American culture is a continued struggle as still they are treated unjustly. References Feagin. J. (1978) Racial and Ethnic Relations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall. p. 212, p. 298 Scott, B. (2007). Daily Race Colors Suspensions. News Journal Murfreesboro. Nash, K. (2000). Contemporary Political Sociology: Globalization, Politics, and Power. Blackwell Publishers.

Adhesion molecules in T-cell receptor

Adhesion molecules or receptor play key role in many processes involving cellular immunity that included haematopoiesis, migration, activation and finally apoptosis. They are mainly surface glycoproteins and variation among them is mainly due to different pattern of glycosylation. Adhesion molecules play a central role in T cell activation by providing initial temporary attachment of TCR and Antigen bearing MHC on APC. It was clearly demonstrated by various studies where complete inhibition of cellular immunity was observed in response to Monoclonal antibody against many of these adhesion molecules.Cytotoxic CD8 T cells mediated immunity play a key role in viral infection control. It exerts it effect by close cellular interaction with viral infected target cells. Adhesion molecules play a crucial role in driving the effector T cell towards viral infected target cell as well as to establish interaction between TCR and APC. This article briefs the function and properties of some vital adhesion molecules such as LFA-1, ICAM and VLA-4. Further, research carried out to assess the role of adhesion molecules in T-cell receptor is also summarized.Thymus derived (T) lymphocytes are important regulatory and effectors cells in immune responses. The specificity of cellular immunity is mediated by T cell receptor-CD3 complex interacting with foreign antigen represented by MHC molecule (BARBARA E. , 1988). Activation of T cells leads to functioning of T Cells where it produces various cytokines and cell lyses. In general, CD4+ T cells act as helper cells by producing different effectors molecules after interacting with antigen bearing APC cells, whereas CD8+ cell directly exert it’s effect by killing the antigen bearing APC cells.Activation and generation of effectors T cells are mediated by TcR-CD3 complex but there are several other surface molecules that play a significant role in immune response and T cell adhesion to APC. Similarly, they have significant role in cell migration, homing and recirculation. Some recent reports indicate the role of these molecules in T cell activation and differentiation. Among many are LFA-1, CD2, CD4, and CD8. Each of these molecules interact with it ligands for example LFA-1 binds to ICAM-1 while LFA-3 bind to CD2 etc. (BARBARA E. , 1988) LFA-1:The LFA-1 molecule is member of a family of three related proteins found on lymphoid and myeloid cells having common Beta subunits of MW 95000. They are non covalently associated with a unique alpha subunit. Two other members of LFA-1 families are CR3 and p150. LFA-1 molecules are widely distributed on all thymocytes, T cells, B cells, and natural killer cells. Identification of LFA-1 was done when monoclonal antibodies against it was used to inhibit cytotoxic T cell mediated killing and later on it was found to be key molecules which helps in TCR-APC interaction as adhesion molecules.Similar observation are made where anti LFA- 1 monoclonal antibody inhibits spontaneo us aggregation or homotypic adhesions between EB virus mediated activated T cells. This clearly indicates the role of LFA-1 in strengthening the intersection. Any abnormality in expression of these groups of adhesion molecules leads to recurrent bacterial and viral infection and abolished Cytotoxic T cell mediated immunity. (BARBARA E. , 1988) ICAM (Intra cellular Adhesion Molecules): Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 (ICAM-1, CD54) is a transmembrane glycoprotein molecule of the immunoglobulin super family.Each of the molecules is made up of 5 distinct domains and coded by gene present on chromosome 19. It is 80-114 KDa protein having 505 amino acid residues. ICAM associated with receptor of integrin family and having key role in cell signaling and adhesion. A CD8 T cell utilizes temporary interaction between ICAM-1 and LFA-1 to initiate binding of TcR and antigen MHC. This temporary interaction or binding provides sufficient time to T cell to recognize Antigen and respond against it by activation. (BARBARA E. , 1988)The T-cell lymphocyte migration is influenced by the interactions via the adhesion molecules, the T cell receptor and cytokines. (Hauzenberger D, 1995). The motility of the T cell lymphocytes is very much and critically dependent upon the avidity of the adhesive lymphocyte receptors for endothelial cells ligand and extracellular matrix componenets and the capability of the lymohocytes to undergo a motile response. Hauzenberger D et al. , 1995 discussed that the lymphocytes are rendered motile by adhesion to endothelial cells and ECM components.This migration, which is considered directed is mediated by beta-1-integrins and special T-cell lymphocytes that possess functional specialization using either alpha 4 beta 1 or alpha 5 beta 1 during chemotaxis and hapotaxis to ECM components. It is also reported that the T cell antigen receptor cannot itself trigger T lymphocyte migration to fibronectin, laminin or collagen type IV but works in hand with s ignals via alpha 4 beta 1. (Hauzenberger D, 1995) Adhesion molecules and Systemic viral Infection: Research Studies Virus induced changes in the adhesion molecules expression on T-cells were studied by Andersson et al., 1997. They studied how the antiviral effector cells migrate into the infectious foci. It was revealed by the FACS (Fluorescent associated Cell sorting) that when systemic lymphocytic choriomeningitis viral infection occurs in cells, various cell adhesion molecules including VLA-4, LFA-1, and ICAM-1 are up regulated on CD8+ cells. The lymph node homing receptor MEL-4 was down regulated during infection, but they observed only marginal changes in CD4+ cells. Further analyses showed that T cells with a changed adhesion molecule profile presented many other cell surface markers, thus indicating a state of cellular activation.The activation was of IL-2R, and included all virus-specific CTL effectors. The researchers concluded that the hypothesis that indicates that the up regulation of VLA-4 is important for effectors T cell homing to sites of inflammation. (Andersson EC, 1994). In Concanavalin induced Hepatitis, the TNF-? induced expression if Adhesion molecules are under the control of TNFR1. This study was performed by Worl et al. , in 2001. Hepatocellular death by activation of TNFR1 is mediated, apart from this TNF also in responsible for activation of cytokines and adhesion molecules.Also leads to massive induction of adhesion molecules, like ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-selecting in the liver. The study also revealed, that the absence of any of the TNFrs did not change the adhesion molecules expression in the livers of ConA treated mice which leads to the conclusion that the other endothelial cell-activating cytokines up-regulated adhesion molecules expression. This study discusses the critical role of adhesion molecules, such that the upregulaton of adhesion molecules during hepatitis not only contributes to organ injury but also represent defense m echanism. (Dominik Wolf, 2001) Rhinoviruses cause common colds.This form of common cold has over 100 serotypes, the major group share a single receptor. Lymphocyte function associated molecule 1 (LFA-1) mediates leukocyte adhesion to a wide variety of cell types by binding to intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1). Donald E. Staunton et al. , 1989 demonstrated identity between the receptor for the major group of rhinoviruses and ICAM-1. The studies revealed that a major group rhinovirus binds specifically to purified ICAM-1 and to ICAM-1 expressed on transfected COS cells and binding is blocked by three ICAM-1 monoclonal antibodies (MAb) that block ICAM-1-LFA-1 interaction.These studies also suggested that the ICAM-1 contact site(s) for LFA-1 and rhinoviruses is identical. Moreover, ICAM-1 MAb block the cytopathic effect in HeLa cells mediated by representative major but not minor group rhinoviruses. The researcher’s concluded that intercellular adhesion molecule 1 is ind uced by soluble mediators of inflammation, suggesting that the host immune response to rhinovirus may facilitate spread to uninfected cells. (Donald E. Stauntonb, p. 1989) Apart from ICAM1 and LFA-1, other categories of adhesion molecules functioning in T cell receptors include E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1.These adhesion molecules mediate adult T-cell leukemia cell adhesion to endothelial cells. Ishakawa et al. , 1980 studies the adhesion properties of peripheral bold leukemic cells form 10 patients with adult T-cell leukemia to endothelial cells to derive the mechanism of leukemic cell infiltration. ATL cells did express LFA-1 but the expression of VLA-4 was variable. These results, together with the detection of E-selectin expression on the endothelium at ATL skin lesions, indicated that the E-selectin-mediated adhesion is the major pathway for the adherence of ATL cells to endothelial cells.Moreover, the ligand for E-selectin on ATL cells appears to differ fro m that on neutrophils. (T Ishikawa, 1993) Bibliography Andersson EC, C. J. (1994). Changes in cell adhesion molecule expression on T cells associated with systemic virus infection. Journal of Immunology , 1237-45. BARBARA E. , B. I. (1988). T cell adhesion molecules. FASEB , 2584-2590. Dominik Wolf, R. H. (2001). TNF–Induced Expression of Adhesion Molecules in the Liver Is Under the Control of TNFR1 Relevance for Concanavalin A-Induced Hepatitis.The Journal of Immunology , 1300-1307. Donald E. Stauntonb, a. V. (198). A cell adhesion molecule, ICAM-1, is the major surface receptor for rhinoviruses. Cell , 849-853. Hauzenberger D, K. J. (1995). T lymphocyte migration: the influence of interactions via adhesion molecules, the T cell receptor, and cytokines. Crit Rev Immunol. , 285-316. T Ishikawa, A. I. (1993). E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 mediate adult T-cell leukemia cell adhesion to endothelial cells. Blood , 1590-1598.