Effects of Oestrogen Changes

Effects of Oestrogen Changes Executive function is influenced by oestrogen- in the brain the area associated to executive functions, memory and attention is the prefrontal cortex (Pettit, 2013). As during the female lifespan the levels of oestrogen changes, and the executive functions experiences some issues when these levels are low, for example after childbirth and around menopause (Craig et al., 2008). Although the low levels of oestrogen after childbirth and lactation are temporary, after the menopause these levels do not increase naturally. As the world population experience longer life span, some diseases are estimated to increase with age. One of the most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which mostly occur in later life (Lephart Hedges, 2003). Alzheimer’s disease affects the working memory, attention planning and other executive functions; it is a progressive disease and it is considered by deteriorating cognitive deficits, affective disturbances, delusion, and on the later stages, it also start motor and sensory problems (Lephart Hedges, 2003). Most of the patients with Alzheimer’s disease showed episodic memory loss, semantic memory loss and depressed mood (Ka Birkha, 2000). In the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient, the episodic memory loss is related to severe pathological changes within hippocampal and parahippocampal structures of the medial temporal lobes (Hyman et al., 1984 as cited in Ka Birkha, 2000) and to a deficiency in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (Coyle et al., 1983 as cited in Ka Birkha, 2000). In 1975, a pioneer study in rats found that oestrogen upregulates the activity of choline acetyltransferase in the rats brain (Luine, Khylchevskaya, McEwen, 1975). After ten years, another study confirmed that the activity of choline acetyltransferase in the medial aspect of the horizontal diagonal band nucleus, the frontal cortex, and cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) of the dorsal hippocampus were increased after the administration of oestrogens (Luine, 1985). Furthermore, the human nucleus basalis of meynert (a telencephalic structure that provides most of the acetylcholine to the cerebral cortex) in Alzheimer’s disease has been noticed the upregulation of oestrogen receptors (Behl, 2002). Thus, many studies suggest the use of oestrogens as a treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, as in fact, oestrogens increases the activity of acetylcholine, promotes the growth of neurons and their connections, enhances blood flow in the brain and seems to constrain the toxic effect of ÃŽ ²-amyloid (â€Å"Alzheimer’s disease: recent progress and prospectsPart II.,† 2001). However, the prominent reason in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease with oestrogens is the low rate of Alzheimer’s disease in women who after menopause had used the hormone replacement therapy (â€Å"Alzheimer’s disease: recent progress and prospectsPart II.,† 2001). Despite of this fact, some studies showed that the use of oestrogen replacement therapy (ORT) had no improvement of the cognition and no halts the degeneration of women with Alzheimer’s disease (Larkin, 2000). Because of the changes of oestrogens during the women lifespan, some studies suggest that there is a critical time related to start the hormonal replacement therapy to have an effect in Alzheimer’s disease (Brinton, 2004; Ka Birkha, 2000; Pettit, 2013). Thus, oestrogen changes is not only affects women with Alzheimer’s disease, b ut also the executive functions in all women during their lifespan. Oestrogen is commonly known as female sex hormone, and there are three types of oestrogen, the 17ÃŽ ²-oestradiol, oestrone and oestriol (Darlington, 2002). There are two other types of sex hormones, the male sex hormone – testosterone, and the pregnancy hormone – progesterone. The release of these hormones are controlled by the hypothalamus through the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone which acts on the anterior pituitary gland to stimulate the release of the follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinising hormone (Darlington, 2002). During the female lifespan the levels of oestrogens change, such as menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause (Pettit, 2013). The menstrual cycle occurs during puberty and last until menopause, except during pregnancy. The ovulation occurs when there is a peak in the release of luteinising hormone, this hormone regulates the secretion of oestrogen, which in conjunction with the follicle-stimulating hormone control the development of t he follicle (Darlington, 2002). The oestrogen levels reaches the peak during ovulation phase (mid cycle) and the bottom during the menstrual phase (bleeding), during menstrual cycle (Pettit, 2013). In the pregnancy the levels of oestrogens also gradually change, they reach a peak by the third trimester of the pregnancy, and this peak will be the highest level of oestrogen in the female lifespan. On the other hand, the lowest level of oestrogen in a female lifespan will be the menopause, when the levels of oestrogens decline both in the brain and in the body (Melton, 2000 as cited in Pettit, 2013). The differentiation of the female physiology is this cyclic rise and fall of hormones levels (Darlington, 2002). Furthermore, oestrogen is not only responsible for reproductive functions, it has a role on the peripheral and central nervous systems, and it also affects the development, growth, differentiation, maturation and function of several tissues in the body (Behl, 2002). Some studies had investigated the differences between men and women and concluded that most of the differences in the brain mechanism and structure is related to oestrogens; the structural, cellular, and molecular differences in the brain is called true dimorphisms (Gillies McArthur, 2010). The main areas of the brain that are affect by these differences are the hippocampus, amygdala and cortex, which are responsible for the memory and cognition (Kelly et al., 1999; Baron-Cohen et al., 2005 as cited in Gillies McArthur, 2010). Additionally, oestrogen receptors are also found in astrocytes and other types of glial cell; in the hypothalamus, the amygdala, the preoptic area, and the forebrain are the highest levels of oestrogen receptors expression; and the oestrogen receptors density is greater in the hypothalamus than in extra hypothalamic regions, for instance the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex (Behl, 2002). To investigate how the fluctuations of oestrogen affect both the neuropsychological and neurophysiological parameters, and to visualise changes during the menstrual cycle, a study has use a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to image cortical activation patterns associated with cognitive and motor activation. The results showed that in both neuropsychological tasks blood oestrogen level had a profound effect on the size but not on the lateralisation or the localisation of cortical activation patterns; moreover a noticeable increase in perfusion in cortical areas involved in both cognitive tasks was noticed during the oestrogen peak in the female brain (Dietrich et al., 2001). Another study also investigate the oestrogen fluctuations during the menstrual phase, the results suggested that when the oestrogen are in their peak, some regions show enhanced activation; one of these regions was the cortical region, which is has a connection with auditory and linguistic functions, w hich mean that additional functional networks are recruited (Schà ¶ning et al., 2007). Craig and collegues (2008) stated that women in specific times of their lives, (for instance childbirth, and around menopause), commonly complain of memory problems, which are related with oestrogen changes; their results showed that a biological justification for previous reports might be the higher oestrogen levels, which is associated with improvement of verbal memory performance during the normal menstrual cycle. Therefore, the main problem of the oestrogen changes is the menopause, where the oestrogens levels drastically fall. Evidence from a study showed an executive dysfunction in a women at menopause without hormonal replacement therapy, the results also suggested that the interruption of cognitive processes is promoted by the frontal lobes rather than the hippocampus; additionally, oestrogen improves the execution of working memory tasks and the prefrontal cortex is essential for intact working memory (Keenan, Ezzat, Ginsburg, Moore, 2001). A longitudinal study showed significant differences in regional cerebral blood flow during the memory tasks between women on ORT and women without, also women on ORT had better performance on neuropsychological tests of figural and verbal memory (Resnick, Maki, Golski, Kraut, Zonderman, 1998). Hence many studies had showed the improvement of executive functions, memory and attention on the ORT for women in menopause, however there is a crucial timin g to start the ORT, the critical period hypothesis. The oestrogen need to be taken when neurological health is still intact to have positive effects, before or at the time of menopause, otherwise if the replacement start after menopause, it can have harmful effects (Rettberg, Yao, Brinton, 2014). In conclusion, oestrogen is very important to the best functioning of the female brain. Executive functions, memory and attention are especially related to the levels of oestrogen. During the female lifespan the levels of oestrogens naturally change, reaching the peak on the third trimester of pregnancy and the lowest levels at menopause. Many studies showed the importance of the oestrogen replacement therapy, not only to alleviate the menopause symptoms but especially on the improvement of cognition. However there is the critical period hypothesis, which suggest that the time to start the ORT is before or at the time of the menopause to have the beneficial effect of it. Although there is a relation between low oestrogen levels and Alzheimer’s disease, evidences showed that the use of OTR in Alzheimer’s patients had no improvement. Finally, oestrogens and time are together, and the crucial timing to start the OTR can modify a life, the importance of future researches in this area is to provide a better future for women and maybe decrease the numbers of Alzheimer’s patients.

Journey through Hell in Blood Meridian Essay -- Blood Meridian Essays

Journey through Hell in Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian details what can only be described as the kid's journey through hell. Throughout the novel McCarthy gives the reader the sensation of being in hell. The is brutal and unforgiving physical setting adds a hellish atmosphere in which there is no evidence of any morals or sympathy for the innocent. Judge Holden is even described in terms reminiscent of the devil. All of these factors lead the reader to compare the kid's journey through the Mexican-American border country with a descent into hell. Blood Meridian is set in a place and time period where there was little societal structure and a lot of racial hatred. The very land that the kid travels is full of dirty saloons and people in poverty. As McCarthy writes, "bone palings ruled the small and dusty purlieus here and death seemed the most prevalent feature of the landscape" (48). The country is definitely not travel-friendly. There is an added element of godlessness in the kid's journey. When the kid signs up with a group of renegade nationalists, t...

Carl Rogers Core Conditions

This is statement summarizes the basic hypothesis and therapeutic conditions that distinguish the person-centered approach from other approaches. Rogers (1960, p33) believed that if the therapist can provide a certain kind of relationship, the client would discover within himself/herself the capacity to use the relationship for growth and change for the development of personal growth. So what are the characteristics of the therapeutic relationship that Rogers believed to be essential?These are congruency, unconditional positive regard and empathic understanding. Rogers’ (1957) said that a therapeutic relationship can occur if there are two people in psychological contact, the client is experiencing in congruency or is anxious, the therapist is congruent or integrated in the relationship, the therapist experience unconditional positive regard and acceptance for the client as well as an empathic understanding of the client’s internal frame of reference and strives to comm unicate this experience to the client.He further believed that no other conditions are necessary, if all this conditions are present overtime, constructive personality change will occur. Rogers’ provide a brief summary of the core conditions he believed to be essential in a therapeutic relationship in his book A Way of Being (Houghton Mifflin, pp 115-117). â€Å"The first element could be called genuineness, realness or congruence. The more the therapist is himself or herself in the relationship, putting up no professional front or personal facade, the greater is the likelihood that the client will change and grow in a constructive manner.This means that therapist is openly being the feelings and attitudes that are flowing within at the Counseling and Psychotherapy Page # 2 moment. The term transparent catches the flavor of this condition: the therapist makes himself or herself transparent to the client; the client can see right through what the therapist is in the relations hip; the client experiences no holding back on the part of the therapist. As for the therapist, what he or she is experiencing is available to awareness, can be lived in the relationship, and can be communicated if appropriate.Thus, there is a close matching or congruence between what is experienced at the gut level, what is present in awareness, and what is expressed to the client†. â€Å"The second attitude of importance in creating a climate for change is acceptance, or caring, or prizing – what I have called ‘unconditional positive regard’. When the therapist is experiencing a positive acceptant attitude toward whatever the client is at that moment, therapeutic movement or change is more likely to occur.The therapist is willing for the client to be whatever immediate feeling is going on – confusion, resentment, fear, anger, courage, love, or pride. Such caring on the part of the therapist is nonpossesive. The therapist prizes the client in a tot al rather than a conditional way†. â€Å"The third facilitative aspect of the relationship is empathic understanding. This means that the therapist sense accurately the feelings and personal meanings that the client is experiencing and communicates this understanding to the client.When functioning bets, the therapist is so much inside the private world of the other that he or she can clarify not only the meanings of which the client is aware but even those just below the level of awareness. This kind of sensitive, active listening is exceedingly rare in our lives. We think we listen but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know†. Congruence implies that the therapists are true, that is they are genuine, integrated and authentic during the therapy session.They are without pretensions, what their inner feelings and the external expression of it are one a nd the same and they can honestly articulate their feelings, thoughts, reactions and attitudes that are present in the relationship with the client. The therapist who is congruent conveys the message that it is not only permissible but desirable to be oneself, he. /she presents themselves as transparent to the client and thus refuses to encourage an image of herself as superior, expert and omniscient (Mearns and Thorne, 1992 p15.). Person-centered therapy emphasizes that therapy will not progress if the therapist feels one way about the client but behaves in a different way. So that if the therapist either dislikes or disapprove of the client but pretends that he/she accepts the client. Therapy will not work. Counseling and Psychotherapy Page # 3 The unconditional positive regard of the therapist to the client tells us that it is of the utmost importance that the therapist’s caring be nonpossesive.If the act of caring is rooted in the therapist’s need to be liked and a ppreciated, constructive change in the client is inhibited. Therapists should give importance and genuinely accept their clients without placing conditions on their acceptance. It should not be an attitude of â€Å"I’ll accept you when†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , rather it should be â€Å"I’ll accept you as you are†. Therapists should let their clients know that they value their clients as they are and that clients have the freedom to feel and experience an array of emotions without fear of losing their therapists acceptance of them.When the therapist is able to embrace this attitude of acceptance and nonjudgmentalism, the client is more able to feel safe, to explore negative feelings and to move into the core of his anxiety or depression, he is more likely to face himself honestly without the ever present fear of rejection or condemnation (Mearns and Thorn, 1992 p15. ). However, acceptance is the affirmation of the client’s rights to have their own beliefs and feeli ngs, it is not the approval of all behavior.One of the fundamental tasks of the therapist is to understand client’s feelings and experiences perceptively and precisely as they are presented during the therapy sessions. The therapist tries to feel the client’s subjective experience in the here and now. The aim is to persuade clients to go deeper within them and experience their inner selves to recognize and resolve the unease that is present within them. Empathic understanding suggests that the therapist should be able to feel what the client is feeling without becoming lost in these feelings.It is also necessary to recognize that empathic understanding goes beyond the act of identifying the presenting feelings of the client but rather should include those feelings deep and less Counseling and Psychotherapy Page # 4 experienced feelings. Therapists’ empathy brings about a more profound understanding of the self in the part of the client and an elucidation of thei r beliefs and worldviews. Rogers (1980) asserts that when the therapist can grasp the clients’ private world as the client sees and feels it – without losing the separateness of their own identity – constructive change is more likely to occur.In Rogers’ perspective, the client/therapist relationship should be one of equality; therapists do not keep their knowledge a secret or attempt to mystify the therapeutic process. The progression of a client’s transformation is largely dependent on the quality of this equal relationship. As clients’ experience the therapists’ accepting way of listening to them, they eventually come to listen acceptingly themselves. As they find the therapist caring and prizing them, clients begin to believe in their worth and value.As they experience the genuineness of the therapist, clients also discard their pretensions and become real with themselves and the therapist. References Mearns, D. & Thorne, B. (1992) Person-centered counseling in action. London: SAGE Publications Limited Rogers, C. (1961) On becoming a person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Rogers, C. (1980) A way of being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Rogers, C. (1986) Carl Rogers on the development of the person-centered approach. Person- Centered Review, 1(3), 257-259. Thorne, B. (1992) Carl Rogers. Newsbury Park, CA: Sage

Battered Women Who Kill Essay Example

Battered Women Who Kill Essay Example Battered Women Who Kill Essay Battered Women Who Kill Essay and Durham. Family Research Lab. New Hampshire Univ. Assaults By Wives on Husbands: Implications for Primary Prevention of Marital Violence. (1989): ERIC. EBSCO. Web. 7 Apr. 2011.

buy custom Business Cycle essay

buy custom Business Cycle essay This paper objectively analyzes the macroeconomic situation in the U.S.A and how these conditions have an impact on two identified monopolistic companies. The study will also attempt to outline how the companies try to deal with these challenges. The two companies identified are retail companies whose status can be categorized as monopolistic. They are the Starburks and the Wal-Mart, company Inc. Wal-Mart for instance has been identified as the largest retail company engaged in the production of end- user products. It is estimated that two-thirds of the state Gross Domestic products emanate from the retail companies. This means that the value that the retail companies have to the economy of the state cannot be taken for granted. Wal-mart has got a focus of intending to save the resources of its customers, to better their lives through fair trading. (Wal-mart, 2010) This slogan has faded overtime due to the nature of the environment it is operating. They are also in direct touch with their customers assisting them on product use. It however, operates on more than eight thousand locations, in not less than 15 states and carries more than 55 different banners Identified firms The firms identified for this analysis are the Starbucks and Wal-mart. Both international corporations are in different industrial sectors. They may be classified as two monopolistic firms on the basis of several characteristics. First, the facts got from the official websites of the two companies clearly reveal that the two companies do enjoy the same focus especially in the target of their markets. They a similar focus, single-market domination. They normally dominate the market in the regions that they are situated and eventually cause related companies in terms of products to go out of business. In addition, they are said to operate at minimal costs, overtake their industries as well as hiring lowly paid workers. They are said to suffer from diverse opinions from the public. Starbucks for instance has relatively good public relations with te populace as compared to Wal-mart which the public assumes it to hold double standards. However, this may only be a public opinion since they may be lacking the necessary facts to prove the allegations. Analysis Wal-mart Company has been recognized as one of the stable companies in the market. Over the recent period, their sales have been extremely better. This has been attributed to their relatively low prices of goods. There is also a platform of being linked with higher income earners. This trend has changed against and is against its focus. The sales of wal-mart seem to be decreasing as time passes by. The sales during the recent quarter were standing at -12.15%. This has been a drastic decrease compared to the last quarter. The first decrease since the store was made public in 1969 was experienced during the fourth quarter of the previous year. The chief executive and the president of the Wal-mart company said that the U.S sales in the quarter were expected to be challenging. He also proposed that the international business however was expected to grow strong. The sales are expected to go flat when compared to an increase of 3.6% and 4.2 % in the previous quarters simultaneously. The profits of the company are much lower compared to previous fiscal years. Their stock however seems strong and its current sale stands at $ 50.86. 52 week low reported was $ 47.57 while 52 week high $ 55.99 (Stock analysts, 2011). The benefit that the Wal-mart company faces is that it operates on very low labor costs. It has an estimate of over 2.1 million workers. The revenues are approximately 3% of the nations total turnover of the states Gross Domestic Product. The revenue earned in the end of the previous fiscal year was amounting to $ 408 billion. The company pays very minimal wages that to a greater extent calls for government intervention. The help that the government bestows to the people comes from the taxpayers which on the other end is difficultt to get. Provision of services by the government such as health may turn out to be a difficult exercise. The hiring process has improved as compared to other years which were marked by discrimination of both color and sexism. Men are no more preferred over females. Discrimination of African-American has also reduced significantly. (Norman, 2010). On the other hand, Starbucks has a recognizable reputation for being a world class company in production of high quality coffee. They also have an improved customer service schemes. They have faced tougher times in the previous years but enjoy a great deal of improvement in the recent years. The profits of the company are expected to increase over a period of time. The company has more than fifteen thousand stores in more than fifty countries. The current stock price stands at $ 27.15 per share, with the 52 weeks low at $ 12.76 and high at $ 27.93. There is a remarkable revenue increase of 4% over the current fiscal first quarter. Customer services have improved very much in the company. It minimizes the labor costs by employing fewer employees and requests them to work for more hours.( Starbucks, 2010). There is also a significant increase in the stock price. The hiring rate of the company was reported to have increased by almost 200% over the period of the previous fiscal year. The greater profits allow the company to hire more employees and reduce the employees turnover.( Starbucks official site, 2010). Hiring of the employees is normally informed by the profits accrued. Conclusion In conclusion, the two companies though perceived to be similar in their modes of operation are greatly affected by economic condition of the state. The revenues of Wal-mart while that of Starbucks continue to increase going by the current trend. Furthermore, the managers of these international firms have to be updated with the current business environment in order to allow them to make the relevant strategies for their operations. Buy custom Business Cycle essay

Islamic Law and the Modern World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Islamic Law and the Modern World - Essay Example Thesis statement: The Islamic Law is less important in the modern world because the same does not support democratic ideology, limits individual freedom, less secular, hijacks politics, manipulates economics, against modernity, and limits basic human rights within religious belief. The concept of democracy envisions equal opportunity for all within national boundary. Besides, democracy is totally against the influence of royal families and religions groups over national politics. This is important for a modern state because democracy allows equal opportunity to all citizens. On the other side, an individual’s religions belief determines his/her worth and rights in an Islamic nation. To be specific, the laws related to Islam limits the scope of democracy within Islamic nations. For instance, the Islamic nations never allow democracy within national politics because democracy allows citizens to choose their government. Fatima Mernissi (2009, p.16) states that, ‘The pouring of masses onto the streets during the Gulf War, their calling for democracy, passed unnoticed in the Western media’. But some nations (Muslim majority) try to inculcate democracy within the mainstream society, known as Islamic democracy. For instance, some secular nations l ike Turkey try to redefine Islamic principles to inculcate democracy into the society. Still, this is not an easy task because Islamic principles, especially Sharia, are not in favor of democratic thought. Similarly, some other Islamic nations, like Pakistan, are not totally against democracy because Islamic law is not the one and only law in these nations. So, one cannot plainly blame Islam for the less scope of democracy within nations because the political elite and religious elite classes are responsible for the same. On the other side, the religious fundamentalist groups are in favor of the strict implementation of laws related to Islam.

Toyotas Advertising and Sales Promotion Campaigns Essay

Toyotas Advertising and Sales Promotion Campaigns - Essay Example This mix of strengths are, a very good understanding of market conditions in the different markets around the world, a very focused segmentation, targeting, and positioning to address these market conditions, speed and flexibility in manufacturing to meet the needs of these of these markets, commitment to lean manufacturing techniques and quality, to remain competitive, and provide value for money to their customers, and forward looking marketing strategy that attempts to incorporate new and emerging technologies into their products, to blaze trails in the new directions that automobiles are expected to take. Â  The weakness of Toyota lies mainly in its dependence on the automobile segment. Toyota has a diversified range of business activities that include automobiles, material handling equipment, textile machinery and electric components. Yet, there is over-dependence on the automobile sector as can be seen from the revenue generation. The automobile segment contributes 52% of the total revenue of Toyota. Looking at the changes that have taken place from 2000 to 2004 in terms of sales per employee, there has been a reduction causing a decrease in revenue per employee. This has had a negative impact on the productivity and efficiency levels in Toyota. (Toyota Industries Inc. Company Profile). Â  The oil prices have skyrocketed in the recent past and show no sign of decline with increased energy consumption from the emerging economies of populous countries like China and India. The worldwide focus has changed to looking for alternative sources of energy, including use in automobiles.