Dollar Tree Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Dollar Tree - Case Study Example As such, multiple branches are needed of any one retailer in order to truly realize profit on the scale that would sustain the viability of any company for any length of time. Dollar Tree has been able to become such a company, gradually acquiring other discount chains over the years, to now have a presence throughout the entire continental United States and Canada. This paper serves to explain some of the reasons behind their success, as well as providing a description of some future challenges on the horizon. Case Challenge 1 The first challenge facing Dollar Tree rests in the reality that the company’s initial growth was accomplished almost exclusively through acquisition. The question then becomes whether or not this will be an attractive option in the near future. The reality is that expansion through acquisition will likely be quite difficult in today’s economic climate. The company is already struggling to keep its pricing model in tact (all items at $1), and the cost of acquiring other companies will make this increasingly difficult. With the company now poised to pass the 5,000 location mark in the near future, the reality is that it does not need to continue to grow in the manner. Already being considered the industry leader, there are few chains that are in direct competition with it to begin with. If they desire to acquire even more discount dollar chains, it will likely only be in areas of the country where they do not already have an established presence. Case Challenge 2 Dollar Tree also faces the challenge moving forward of being able to continue to offer

Perception of an Object Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Perception of an Object - Essay Example Hence, whatever we do, it is based on reasoning or motivating forces that influence our thinking process and the way we think. Â  Although we react as per the perception of the event, it is equally true that our reactions are also influenced by the manipulations of the information that are retained in the memory of the brain. Some of the forces that might determine our form of ‘thinking’ may include gender, ethnicity, scientific background, official compulsions or socio-economic parameters. Hence our judgment of events is largely dependent on the memory that stores information about that event. As a student, we are often faced with situations that are often interpreted in different ways by different people including my friends, teachers, relatives etc. Â  In one of the school trips, Danny, despite being the brightest students in our class, refused to go. Everyone was pretty annoyed and little upset also because Danny was not only the brightest in the class, he was also a great fun. Since the examinations were also around the corner, everyone concluded that he did not want to waste time but would rather use the time to study. As I later found out, everybody was wrong! Danny very much wanted to go but he was not able to go because his parents were getting a divorce and he was heartbroken. I was only able to find out because when I accused him of being selfish, the whole thing came out. He had confided only because I was his good friend so I had to keep silent while my friend’s absence was made a subject of ridicule. It was a lesson in perception. What is perceived to be an easy explanation of events often has a deeper meaning which can only be understood by rationalizing the actions of other people? Indeed, we need to rationa lize other people’s action and try to look at the events from their perspectives. Why the person acted the way he did.

How Ethical Issues Can Affect Each Component

How Ethical Issues Can Affect Each Component This report aims to describe, how ethical issues can affect each component of the marketing mix. The report starts of by introduction to the ethics in an organisation and the importance of business ethics in the society. The report also examines the various factors which have a impact on the ethical nature of the marketing decisions. Two well-known companies have been taken into account for better understanding and demonstration of the discussion. INTRODUCTION A rose à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. By any other name would smell as sweet. SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet There is an inevitable and universal cycle between consumers and marketers. The main aim of any marketer is to satisfy customer needs and wants. Marketing provides the exchange link between customers and marketers which would eventually help in increasing return on investment for shareholders. (Smith 1995; Dunfee, Smith, and Ross 1999) Both marketers and the consumers have different mind set while selling or purchasing the products. The sole main of companies is to maximise their profit and consumers is to have a value for money product and services. This difference in thinking leads to conflicts on the basis of ethics. (Smith 1995, 1993) The basic ethical issues like, justice, rights, fairness and equality can be perceived in a different manner by consumer and the companies. (Dunfee, Smith, and Ross 1999) In some instances both consumers and the companies may believe on the same ethical grounds for e.g. in principle, providing a unique, value for money product and services. Whereas, research has shown that there is a wide gap between the ethical philosophies of both consumers as well as marketers, (Singhapakdi et al. 1999) which results in unethical behaviour by consumers including boycotts and protests. (Smith and Cooper-Martin 1997) IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS A CONTINGENCY APPROACH- The ethics era began around early 1980s, when researchers and businesses started giving more attention to the ethical side of the business. (Macchiette and Roy 1994; Smith 1995) Many theories have been proposed since then in order to draw promote consumers rights and moral values. Including- social contracts theory, moral decision-making theory (Laczniak and Murphy 1991), general theory of marketing ethics (Hunt and Vitell 1986) and social contracts theory (Dunfee, Smith and Ross 1999). These theories are basic and are developed over from the old, classical theories including Kantian ethics and perspectives of rights, duties, and justice. The main aim of all these marketing ethics theories and even business ethics in modern world is to increase consumers confidence and develop trust for the companies and thus having customer loyalty. The business ethics also helps companies to gain competitive advantage in the market for instance- Anita Rodick- Body Shop and Richard Bransons Virgin group. REFERENCE NEEDED ETHICAL ISSUES IN MARKETING Marketing in any companies starts with the basic step of marketing research which is then followed by segmentation and targeting the market. Thought marketing research is followed to gain knowledge about the market and the competitors but some how- knowingly or un-knowingly, companies tend to invade the privacy of the consumers by following un-ethical method of gathering information. Even while conducting the research, researchers tend to stereotype among people in order to get the desired result which in turn results in wrong information about customer needs and demands. While s In terms of targeting the market, companies also aim at the young children, who do not have the right knowledge, thus they choose the market audience of their choice knowing they will benefit the maximum. For instance- a chocolate ad will show a kid playing and eating melted chocolate but it never says, brush your teeth after having it. Now, to be more specific, we will look at the ethical issues related to the marketing mix- 4Ps. PRODUCT PRODUCT MIX There are four major issues with products: deceptive packaging, product safety, brand divisive and planned obsolescence Product safety Safety is first. A major impact is being made to make the product safe and secure for the consumers to use. Almost all the products in the market use some or the other form of technology which may or may be harmful for the consumers. It is the duty of the marketers to ensure the safety of the product before placing it in the market. For instance, according to BBC news, 2007, the biggest toy making company in China Mattel had recalled 9 million products due to danger from magnet and lead paint. This violates the consumers right to safety. BBC news, 2007 Planned obsolescence Nothing lasts forever but the question is who and how is to decide the time frame for deciding when is the replacement required. Cars rust, clothes fade or go out of fashion. If companies make efforts to increase the quality of the products, there are many customers who would love to keep their cars for a longer period of time than they can. However, for the producers its a wear-out is positive as it results in increase in demand of their other goods and services/ repeat purchase. Some people argue that if the product has been planned to be obsolete form the market, it violates customers right to choose. The car manufacturers like Ford have recently come up with their latest cars having their body shells much more resistant to rust proving a 3 years minimum guarantee. Ford, 2010 Deceptive packaging This is a very common practice, also known as slack packaging followed by many companies as they show the product to be over sized by packaging effects giving customers an idea of buying more for the same price than the competitor. Product such as- cereals, crisps or even soap powders are such examples. Packaging sometimes also includes misleading labelling. In terms of missing information on package about various ingredients or even a sentence which could be useful in consumers decision making process leads to violation of consumers right to information. Brands Divisive Branding is something that is used by companies to differentiate their product than that of the competitors. The well known sports brand NIKE is supposed to be sport-wear of high quality, durability and is also proposed to be in the top segment in the market. Some people argue that Nike is a brand rather than a product, much similar to the Apple ipod from Apple. Nike does not produce anything of its own. The entire production is outsourced to less developed countries like India and Indonesia. The retail price of a Nike today may be  £100 on an average but according to a report from 2001, the full time wages for an employee were around the legal minimum of 17,000 Rupiahs ( £1.22/) per day. The problem with branding is that big brands like Nike, Apple have all the power, even though they get their products made in poor countries, wealth is still in few hands only. Working is Nike leads to a disproportion of profits and power on a global level due to which poor countries are left with low margin production units. PRICE Price is something of value charged by the producers in exchange of his products or services. The various un-ethical pricing practices are: Price fixing: It is a situation where the competitors agree to charge a fixed, raise or maintain price, in simpler terms manipulate price. Price fixing can be done for different reasons- to discriminate against small firms, remove competition by fixing price in specific areas and enjoying monopolistic market. Thus in 1980, the Sherman Act was introduced to ensure fair pricing between both consumers and businesses. http://bizcovering.com/business-and-society/price-fixing/ Bid rigging This is a situation or fraud where the commercial contracts are promised to only one party even if there are other bidders present. Price rigging is a form of price fixing itself and is illegal in many countries. Usually occurs in big tenders for governments or private companies for construction. The ill-effects of price rigging fall on the local consumers [tax payers] as well as the agencies who seek to bid and thus effects the overall economy. Price discrimination It is often referred to as price differentiation due to the fact that different price are being charged by companies for the same product or service to different customers depending on the market segment and rules set prior to the service, for instance in the travel industry a flight may charge $160 from destination A to B and the same flight may charge $200 to the same destination due travelling on a weekend. Another example can be if u book British Airways from A to B for next day travelling you might end up paying almost double, what you could have paid if you would have booked in 2-3 months in advance. Price skimming Many companies follow price skimming strategies in order to gain more revenues before competitors enter the market. Apple iPhone could be the best example to explain the skimming of prices. iPhone was launched with the buzz marketing and unique technology. They made sure that their target market will jump on the products whenever they launch. Having a high introductory price for one year, Apple gain the all the money and confidence of consumer of a superior product and later slashed the price to gain more markets. Price skimming is a temporary form of price discrimination allowing companies to recover their sunk cost. Dumping: Dumping or selling lower than the fair value is a situation/act where companies charge less in the foreign markets compared to that from the home markets for the same products. Dumping according to WTO is condemned but not prohibited PROMOTION Promotion plays a very important role in welfare of the company and thus sometimes companies do anything possible to promote their offered product and services even by unscrupulous means. Advertisements tell the consumers what they would want to hear about the product. No company would ever promote or say negative aspects of their products. The Ads thus, lack in honesty and the complete truth about the features of the product. Some times while promoting certain products, companies need to make sure, they do their homework by knowing about the culture of the country in order to telecast any ad on the television as no person in Saudi Arabia would like to see women advertising about suits and fairness creams. Or no person would like to see promotion of beef burgers by McDonald in India. Competitive ads sometimes can be misleading and create controversy. Ads also have a Some Taste and controversy Negative advertising False and misleading advertising Creating demand for vice or unwholesome products Tobacco? Alcohol? Fattening foods? Pornography or sexually explicit material? Intrusive promotions PLACE Slotting allowances: The fee charged to have their products placed on the shelves by the retailers to produce companies or manufacturers is called a slotting fee, slotting allowance, pay-to-stay, or fixed trade. It depends on factors such as the product, market conditions and the manufacturer of products and so varies greatly. For instance while the initial slotting allowance in a regional group of stores for a new product can be approximately $25,000 per item in high demand markets it can go as high as $250,000. Promotional, stocking and advertising fees are amongst the other fees that can be charged by the retailer. This practise, according to an FTC study, is widespread in the supermarket industry. Many grocers even earn more profit from agreeing to carry a manufacturers product than they do from actually selling the product to retail consumers. Buyback / stock lift / lift-out Gray market merchandise: Generally, it is a single importer a manufacturer would work in a particular area to sell and support their products. The importer further has local dealers and distributors to whom he resells the imported products; this results in a distribution channel. Gray Market, on the other hand, refers to use of methods other than these normal channels to sell and import merchandise. Items thus sold may not be meeting mandatory safety and certification codes, and so are not supported by the authorized importer and are not designed to be sold in a particular market. It also follows that as there is not a particular market for these items they may not function properly, or the authorized importer may not be equipped to provide service, support or software. OR the unofficial trading of securities that have not yet been formally issued Diverted merchandise Exclusive geographic territories Exclusive dealing agreements Tying contracts Refusal to deal Ethics and the supply chain A claim to be an ethical firm would be hypocritical , if a firm turns a blind eye to the unethical practices of suppliers in a supply chain. In particular: The use of child labour and forced labour Production in sweatshops Violation of the basic rights of workers Ignoring of health, safety and environmental standards An ethical producer has to be concerned with what is practiced by all firms (upstream and downstream) in the supply chain. CASE STUDY On July 4, 1977, a boycott was launched in United States against the Swiss based Nestle corporation over the companys marketing of its infant formula (breast milk substitute) particularly in less economically developed countries. Protesters claimed that the infant formula caused unnecessary death of suffering of babies, largely among the poor. The movement quickly spread throughout United States and expanded into Europe as well in the early 1980s. Professor Derek Jelliffe and his wife Patrice, who had contributed to establish the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), were particularly instrumental in helping to coordinate the boycott and giving it ample visibility throughout the world. Did you know that the most efficient step in fighting infant deaths is breast milk? Breast milk works as natural vaccinations against many diseases. If all mothers in poor countries would breast feed their children for the first 6 months, and partially the next 6 months, millions of children would survive. They would develop a natural resistance against deadly diseases. Baby bottle disease, according to the finding by WHO, kills more than 1.5 million children every year. The cause of this is that the substitute for breast milk is made with unclean water and in an unhealthy environment. Even mothers with HIV would be better of breast feeding their children. In these countries breast milk substitute is lethal! They are poisoning their own children to death! This is murder! This is child murder! So why do these poor mothers give their children breast milk substitute? Nestle told them to Nestle tells them their own breast milk is unhealthy Gives away free samples Buy their way into hospitals to push their product Against the law uses direct advertise to mothers. Because companies like Nestlà © uses unethical methods to get mothers hooked on their products, World Health Assembly (WHA) made a resolution called the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes which Nestle and other manufacturers have signed. Still Nestle do not follow this code, and is reported every single year for violations. Primark tops list of unethical clothes shops in poll that shames high-street brands by Jennifer Whitehead, 08-Dec-05, 15:00 LONDON Low-price fashion success Primark has been named the least ethical clothes brand in the UK, with Marks Spencer also scoring poorly, by a new survey highly critical of the way high street brands source their wares. The survey, which has been conducted by Ethical Consumer magazine, found that only five high street brands scored 10 or over out of 20 assessing their ethical standards. Primark was the worst offender, according to the survey, with a score of 2.5. It is followed by Mk One, at 3 points, with Marks Spencer, Debenhams and Gap filling out the bottom five. http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/532319/Primark-tops-list-unethical-clothes-shops-poll-shames-high-street-brands/ Child labour On 23 June 2008, Panaroma, a BBC show, broadcasted a programme that showed unethical manufacturing practices in Primarks supply chain. Child labour practise was exposed by undercover reporters in three of Indias garment factories sub-contracted by Primark. The BBC alerted Primark to their findings, to which Primark replied: Under no circumstances would Primark ever knowingly permit such activities. Primark has since halted business with the mentioned suppliers, but this action by the company was criticised by child protection groups as being irresponsible and likely to cause additional hardship to the labourers. They argued ensuring better working conditions would have been a better solution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primark#Criticism CONCLUSION All in all, it can be seen that in developing countries ethical issues in are highly sensitive to cultural, social and ethnical issues. Thus it is not just an issue of the orient versus the occident. The onus lies on the marketers themselves to not indulge in unethical practices and to respect local values and morals, in order to be a good ethical citizen in the marketing fraternity. Counterfeiting: imitation, faking, pre-emption, prior registration. Consumer ethics: warranty deception, mis-redemption of vouchers, returns of merchandise, recording of music and videos, software copying, false insurance claims RECOMMENDATIONS With public attention focused on ethics, there is a need for stricter controls in business practices, right from framing marketing strategies to finally delivering a product to the consumers.

The United States and the Normandy Invasion :: World War II History

The United States and the Normandy Invasion The year was 1944, and the United States had now been an active participant in the war against Nazi Germany for almost three and a half years. During this time, numerous battles had occurred which were fought with determination and intensity on both sides. Amongst the many invasions of World War II, there is one day which stands out more in the minds of many American soldiers than the others. That day was June 6, 1944, more commonly known as D Day, part of the invasion of Normandy, known as "Operation Overlord." This operation was the largest amphibious assault in history. It was a day in which thousands of young Americans, who poured onto the beaches of France, matured faster than they would have ever imagined. Little did they know of the chaos and torment that awaited them on their arrival. The attacks on Utah and Omaha were strategically made, and carried out in careful preciseness. The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France began on June 6, 1944, and the American assault on the Utah and Omaha beaches on this day played a critical role in the overall success of the Normandy operation. An extensive plan was established for the American attack on Utah and Omaha Beaches. The plan was so in-depth and complex, its descriptions detailed the exact arrivals of troops, armour, and other equipment needed for the invasion, and where exactly on the beach they were to land. Before the landings were to begin, the coastal German defences had to be broken down by a combination of a massive battering by United States Naval ships, and by bombing from the United States Air Force. Between the hours of 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. on the morning of June 6, over 1,000 aircraft dropped more than 5,000 tons of bombs on the German coastal defences. As soon as the preliminary bombing was over, the American and British naval guns opened fire on the Normandy coastline. A British naval officer described the incredible spectacle he witnessed that day: "Never has any coast suffered what a tortured strip of French coast suffered that morning." Along the fifty-mile front the land was shaken by successive explosions as the shells from the ships' guns tore holes in fortifications and tons of bombs poured down on them from the skies. Through smoke and falling debris German defenders crouching in their trenches would soon faintly see the hundreds of ships and assault craft closing in on the shore.

Doctors in Training

Doctors In Training. com – USMLE Step 1 – Part 1 Emails – 2-9-2009 Today begins Part I of the Doctors In Training. com USMLE Step 1 Review Course. Below you will find 20 questions with specific page references to First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, 2009 edition. Twenty new questions similar to the ones below will arrive every Monday and Thursday to your email address from now until May 14th. These questions encourage you to study for the USMLE now and help you learn the high-yield information in a more active manner.At this point in your USMLE study, I recommend that you spend about 10-12 hours a week reviewing and studying for the USMLE, but do not neglect your present coursework. At the bare minimum, I recommend that you go though these twice weekly questions. I also highly recommend finding a study partner to keep you on-track and make your learning more active rather than simply reading to yourself. Quiz each other with these questions and â€Å"pimp† each other with new questions as you go through First Aid together. Additionally, you should try to go through First Aid at least once prior to the start of Part II of the Doctors In Training. om Step 1 Review in order to get the most out of the course. You can use our study schedules posted online to help make your study plan. If you have any questions, please visit the website at www. DoctorsInTraining. com or contact our office via email or phone. Sincerely, Brian Jenkins, MD What would expect to find in a pt with a lesion of CN XII? CN X? (FA p396) What are some of the distinctive clinical features of Williams syndrome? (FA p93) On which cells would you find CD3 molecules? On which cells would you find CD4 molecules? To what do CD4 molecules bind? On which cells would you find CD8 molecules?To what do CD8 molecules bind? (FA p195) What causes the S1, S2, S3, and S4 heart sounds? (FA p248) Name five or more drugs that inhibit acetylcholinesterase. What is the clinical application for each? (FA p229) What are the main differences between nephritic syndrome and nephrotic syndrome? (FA p445) What are the acidic and basic amino acids? Where can you find high concentrations of basic amino acids? Why are these amino acids found in these areas? (FA p107) What bacteria are known for causing bloody diarrhea? (FA p174) What nerve injury would you suspect in a pt with the following motion deficits? FA p355) †¢ foot drop (loss of dorsiflexion) †¢ loss of plantar flexion †¢ loss of knee jerk †¢ loss of hip adduction What are the leading causes of death in infants? (FA p66) What is the equation for determining a drug’s volume of distribution? (FA p222) What are the clinical features of hyperammonemia? (FA p108) What changes in sleep patterns and sexual anatomy are seen in the elderly? (FA p70) Describe the probe and sample to which the probe binds in the following molecular biology techniques: Southern blot, Northern blot, and Western blot. (FA p86 )What are the diagnostic criteria for major depressive episode? What changes in sleep patterns are seen in pts with depression? (FA p423) What is the clinical definition of chronic bronchitis? (FA p482) Which neoplasm is most commonly responsible for the hormone paraneoplastic syndrome? (FA p218) – ACTH ( Cushing’s syndrome – PTH-related peptide ( hypercalcemia – erythropoietin ( polycythemia – ADH ( SIADH What is the blood supply to the embryonic foregut, midgut, and hindgut? What adult structures arise from these primitive guts? (FA p299) Which tract of the spinal cord relays sensory information from the body?Which tract relays pain and temperature sensation? Which tract relays motor sensation to the body? (FA p388) What is the most common tumor of the salivary gland? What is the most common malignant tumor of the salivary gland? (FA p308) Doctors In Training. com – USMLE Step 1 – Part 1 Emails – 2-11-2009 What is the differe nce between a case-control study, a cohort study, and a clinical trial? (FA p60) Which studies use odds ratios, and which use relative risks? (FA p62) Three days ago you hospitalized a 40-year-old male for myocardial infarction. He has been given all of the usual medications.Today you notice that his platelet count is 30,000. What do you suspect is the cause of his low platelets? (FA p341) What are the different etiologies of Cushing’s syndrome? How is the level of ACTH different in each? (FA p286) Which virus is responsible for the following disease? (FA p166) – croup in children – common cold (2 viruses) – #1 cause of fatal diarrhea in children – bronchiolitis in infants (especially premature) How many half-lives does it take for a drug infused at a constant rate to reach 94% of steady state? What variables determine the half-life of a drug? (FA p222)What structures of the inner ear are responsible for the sensation of linear and angular accelera tion? (FA p398) What is the basic equation for cardiac output? What is the Fick principle? What factors affect stroke volume? (FA p245) What are the two most common causes of chronic renal failure? (FA p448) What is the most common cause of Erb-Duchenne palsy? What are the characteristic findings of Erb-Duchenne palsy? (FA p354) What are the signs and symptoms of poliomyelitis? If you suspected polio in a pt with yours, where would you seek to obtain a viral sample from the pt? (FA p389) What are the 3 different eukaryotic RNA polymerases? What type of RNA does each make? (FA p78) How many umbilical vessels are there? Which umbilical vessel has the highest oxygen content? (FA p124) What are Brunner’s glands? (FA p304) What are Peyer’s patches? (FA p303) How can these structures help you identify the location from which a histological specimen was taken? What is the rate-limiting enzyme for ketone synthesis? for cholesterol synthesis? (FA p99) What is the classic triad of symptoms in multiple sclerosis? With what disorders do pts with multiple sclerosis commonly present? (FA p403)Which penicillin fits the following description? (FA p179) – often the drug of choice against Enterococcus sp. – effective against Pseudomonas sp. – good for otitis media because it covers Strep. pneumo. and H. influenza – a/w interstitial nephritis – a/w rash (especially in pt’s with mononucleosis) What class of drugs is used in the treatment of ADHD, narcolepsy, and obesity? (FA p230) What is the definition of first-degree heart block? (FA p254) What is the classic presentation of a patient with gonococcal arthritis? (FA p363) What is the difference between malingering and factitious disorder? FA p424) Doctors In Training. com – USMLE Step 1 – Part 1 Emails – 2-16-2009 What are the rate-limiting enzymes for the following metabolic processes? (FA p99) †¢ glycogen synthesis †¢ glycogen breakdown â₠¬ ¢ fatty acid synthesis †¢ fatty acid oxidation Which adrenergic antagonists can be used to treat hypertension as well as urinary retention in pts with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)? (FA p231) What are the risk factors for colon cancer? (FA p316) What is the difference between prevalence and incidence? (FA p62) What physiology accounts for the automaticity of the AV and SA nodes? FA p252) How does the emphysema caused by smoking differ from the emphysema caused by alpa-1-antitrypsin deficiency? (FA p482) What is the difference between Meissner’s corpuscle and a Pacinian corpuscle? (FA p375) What syndrome causes the triad of sterility, bronchiectasis, and recurrent sinusitis? What is the primary defect in this syndrome? (FA p83) In which glomerular disease would you expect to see the following changes? (FA p445) †¢ foot process effacement (electron microscope) †¢ wire-loop appearance (light microscope) †¢ mesangial deposits of IgA (electron microscope ) crescent-moon shaped lesion (light microscope) †¢ segmental sclerosis and hyalinosis (light microscope) What clinical scenario is most commonly seen in Reye’s syndrome? What are the characteristics of Reye’s syndrome? (FA p317) What would you expect to find in the synovial fluid of a pt with gout? with pseudogout? (FA p363) What effects do prostaglandins and thromboxane have on platelet aggregation? (FA p369) When is a fetus most susceptible to damage from teratogens? What drug used in the treatment of hypertension is a teratogen? What effect does this have on the fetus? FA p122) Distinguish the following types of organ transplant rejection. (FA p206) MechanismTime Frame hyperacute rejection acute rejection chronic rejection What is Zollinger-Ellison syndrome? (FA p291) What type of collagen is abnormal in patients with Alport’s syndrome? (FA p85) In which order elimination is the rate of elimination proportional to the drug concentration? (FA p223) What is the most common tumor of the adrenal medulla in adults? in children? (FA p287) What lab abnormalities would you expect to see in a pt with SIADH? (FA p291)What drugs are used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease? (FA p412) Doctors In Training. com – USMLE Step 1 – Part 1 Emails – 2-19-2009 What are the common side effects of beta-blockers? Which pt populations should use caution when taking beta-blockers? (FA p232) What are the signs of right-sided heart failure? What are the signs of left-sided heart failure? (FA p265) What asthma medication fits the following statement (FA p487) †¢ inhaled treatment of choice for chronic asthma †¢ inhaled treatment of choice for acute exacerbations †¢ narrow therapeutic index, drug of last resort blocks conversion of arachidonic acid to leukotriene †¢ inhibits mast cell release of mediators, used for prophylaxis only †¢ inhaled treatment that blocks muscarinic receptors †¢ inhaled lon g-acting beta-2 agonist †¢ blocks leukotriene receptors What bacterium causes leprosy (AKA Hansen’s disease)? What part of the body is infected? What animal is a reservoir in the US? (FA p148) What are the symptoms of Kluver-Bucy syndrome? What area of the brain is damaged in this syndrome? (FA p381) Why should a â€Å"Hot T-bone steak† come to mind when someone asks you about interleukins? (FA p199)Compare the leading causes of death in ages 1-14 to those in ages 15-24? (FA p66) What are the side effects of neuroleptic toxicity? (FA p431) What is the composition of a nucleosome? Which histone ties nucleosomes together? (FA p74) What types of preventive services are needed in the following pts? (FA p65) – diabetic – drug abuser – alcoholic – high risk sexual behavior What are the causes of normocytic, normochromic anemia? (FA p332) What 5 classes of medications are used to treat glaucoma? (FA p408) What infections are caused by Chlamydi ae? What is the treatment for most Chlamydia infections? (FA p153)What are the characteristics of thoracic outlet syndrome? (FA p354) What abnormal lab values would lead you to suspect alcoholic hepatitis? (FA p318) What are the most common locations for atherosclerosis? (FA p261) What vitamin deficiencies would you expect to see in a pt with a malabsorption syndrome such as cystic fibrosis or celiac sprue? (FA p94) What types of pancreatic tumors are often seen in MEN type I? (FA p287) What nerves innervate the tongue? (FA p131) What is the classic presenting symptom in a pt with Lyme disease? (FA p151) Doctors In Training. com – USMLE Step 1 – Part 1 Emails – 2-23-2009What are the stages of dying according to Kubler-Ross? (FA p70) Explain the development of the thyroid gland. (FA p131) Which IV anesthetic fits the following description? (FA p411) †¢ a/w hallucinations and bad dreams †¢ most common drug used for endoscopy †¢ used for rapid anesth esia induction †¢ decreases cerebral blood flow (important in brain surgery) What is the mechanism of action and clinical use for methylphenidate? (FA p430) What is the most common urea cycle disorder? What are the findings with this disorder? (FA p108) What change is seen in Barrett’s esophagus? (FA p310)What is the equation for determining a drug’s clearance? (FA p222) What substance activates the classic complement pathway? What substance activates the alternative compliment pathway? (FA p200) In a normal Gaussian curve, what percentage of the sample population falls 1 standard deviation, 2 standard deviations, and 3 standard deviations? (FA p64) What is seen in Budd-Chiari syndrome? What conditions are a/w Budd-Chiari syndrome? (FA p318) What tests can be used to help detect the presence of an MI? (FA p263) What is the equation for calculating the glomerular filtration rate? (FA p437)How long does it normally take for an antidepressant to start working? (FA p4 32) What is the mechanism of action of cyclosporin? (FA p206) In which glomerular disease would you expect to see the following changes? (FA p445) †¢ anti-GBM antibodies (immunoflourescence) †¢ Kimmelstiel-Wilson lesions (light microscope) †¢ â€Å"spike and dome† appearance (electron microscope) †¢ â€Å"tram track† of subendothelial humps (electron microscope) †¢ subepithelial humps (electron microscope) The most common cause of osteomyelitis in all patients is Staph. aureus. What organism would you also suspect in a sickle cell pt with osteomyelitis?What about a drug addict with osteomyelitis? (FA p175) What amino acids are necessary for purine synthesis? (FA p74) What is the rate-limiting enzyme for pyrimidine synthesis? for purine synthesis? (FA p99) What are the common causes of dilated cardiomyopathy? (FA p264) What hormone is detected in a positive urine pregnancy test? How long after conception will this hormone first appear in the uri ne? (FA p460) Doctors In Training. com – USMLE Step 1 – Part 1 Emails – 2-26-2009 FYI: The editors of First Aid for Step 1 have recently posted the â€Å"Errata† for their 2009 edition of First Aid.It can be found here: http://firstaidteam. com/updates-and-corrections/ Describe the pathway by which light affects melatonin secretion. (FA p71) What structures give rise to the glomerular filtration barrier? Which disease results from a loss of the negative charge glomerular filtration barrier? (FA p437) What are the three symptoms of pellagra? What are the causes of pellagra? (FA p95) What factors are considered when determining the loading dose and maintenance dose of a medication? (FA p223) What are the two types of diabetes insipidus? What is the cause of each? (FA p291) What is the cause of cystinuria?What is the treatment for cystinuria? (FA p110) What is the WAGR complex? (FA p447) What two drugs are given to those with organophosphate poisoning? (FA p 228) What are some of the common causes of eosinophilia? (FA p327) What antibiotics have the following mechanisms of action? (FA p178) – block DNA topoisomerase – block the synthesis of peptidoglycans – block nucleotide synthesis – block mRNA synthesis Compare the leading causes of death in ages 25-64 to those in ages 65+? (FA p66) What are the risk factors for a fat embolus? What are the risk factors for a pulmonary embolus? (FA p265)What structures arise from the Mesonephric ducts? What other name is given to the Mesonephric ducts? (FA p133) Which lysosomal storage disease fits the following description? (FA p114) †¢ cherry red spot on retina †¢ corneal clouding + mental retardation †¢ no corneal clouding + mental retardation †¢ demyelinating disease affects peripheral nerves †¢ crinkled paper cytoplasm †¢ sphingomyelin buildup †¢ treatment is dialysis †¢ accumulation of galactocerebroside in the brain †¢ acc umulation of glucocerebroside in the brain What are the Jones criteria for the diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever? (FA p267)What are some of the extrapulmonary causes of restrictive lung disease? (FA p482) What drug can be used to treat carcinoid syndrome? (FA p291) What is the difference between conscious, preconscious, and unconscious in Freudian psychoanalysis? (FA p417) conscious- preconscious- unconscious- What muscles compose the rotator cuff muscles? (FA p350) What is the difference between Wernicke’s aphasia, Broca’s aphasia, and conduction aphasia? (FA p381) Doctors In Training. com – USMLE Step 1 – Part 1 Emails – 3-2-2009 How do nicotinic acetylcholine receptors differ from muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in their mechanisms of action? FA p225) What structures are injured in an unhappy triad knee injury? (FA p350) Which fungal infection fits the following description? (FA p155- FA p157) – causes diaper rash – opportunist ic mold with septate hyphae that branch at a 45 degree angle – opportunistic mold with irregular nonspetate hyphae that branch at wide angles (>90 degrees) – dimorphic fungi common to SW US (San Joaquin Valley fever) – causes thrush in immunocompromised pts and vulvovaginitis in women – dimorphic fungi with broad-based budding yeast – known for causing pneumonia in AIDS pts ( start Bactrim prophylaxis when CD4

Disease in Bram Stoker’s Dracula

As science continues to illuminate the darkened corners of our world, another mythic tale–the drinking of blood by the ubiquitous Dracula–may have a basis in fact according to Wayne Tikkanen, a professor of chemistry at California State University, Los Angeles. â€Å"I am a trained scientist. I don't believe in vampires and werewolves,† Tikkanen told Anthony Breznican for an AP release on Halloween, 1998.Tikkanen speculates that some European monster myths were the product of a blood disease known as porphyria that causes the skin to weaken and be negatively affected by ultraviolet rays that change heme, a component of blood that carries oxygen to the brain, into a toxin. As the disease progresses, the skin blackens and ruptures in the sun, followed by hair growing in the scars. Lips are burned, causing them to peel back, thus making the teeth more prominent.In some cases the nose erodes and the fingers disintegrate, making the hands resemble paws. The disease af fects one in 100,000 people and is treatable with medication. Tikkanen thinks it is possible that those afflicted with the disease centuries ago may have drunk animal blood to relieve their pain as a folk remedy, and that they would have preferred to go out at night in order to avoid the sun, and that perhaps this behavior was co-opted into myths.â€Å"You may do this all the time, but people will only see you when the night is at its brightest–or in other words, a full moon,† Tikkanen said. Unfortunately, the result of such myth-making was that as many as 600 victims of this disease were considered to be monsters by the 16th-century European judge H. Bouget, who subsequently had them burned at the stake. â€Å"Just think: you're horribly disfigured but you're perfectly lucid,† Tikkanen said. â€Å"You don't know what's happening to you, and the doctor doesn't want to treat you even if he knew how.Your priest wants you to confess your sins or the judge will bur n you at the stake. But you don't know what you've done wrong. † Other elements of the Dracula myth often include garlic, which Tikkanen says causes victims of porphyria to suffer violent illness because of the creation of toxins in their blood. Fear of the cross also makes sense in this theory, because the cross represents the Church and thus the Inquisition, which would have instituted the torture and murder of the sufferers of porphyria.In the same vein, the superstitious Romanian society projected its fear of disease and deviancy onto Dracula, thus rising the well-liked folklore hypothesis that â€Å"a man or woman who has led a predominantly wicked existence will almost certainly become a vampire; it is his curse for the wicked deeds committed during the usual term of his life, as well as an entrance that a influential sin can not easily be put to rest† (Douglas, 39). This resembles the idea propagated by the religious right that AIDS is a visitation of heavenly pu nishment for sexual deviancy, i. e. , homosexuality.David Prindle in his book Risky Business â€Å"of all the diseases, the ones that are sexually transmitted seem to carry the heaviest burden of symbolic weight. Such diseases seem to bring our peoples anxieties about spiritual and physical pollution, their dread of being exposed as hypocritical sinners, their yearning to condemn those less righteous than themselves† (Prindle, 73). In Coppola's Dracula, Lucy, who is teasing, inquisitive, and immoral is punished for her â€Å"evil† behavior, her sexuality, by being seduced into the warren of Dracula and thus flattering a vampire herself.Once a vampire, Lucy takes a young child as her injured party, intimidating the guiltless child much in the same way that infants with AIDS often are fatalities of their mother's performance. Susan Sontag notes that these metaphors â€Å"are hardly in contradiction. Such is the extraordinary potency and efficacy of the plague metaphor: it allows a disease to be regarded both as something incurred by susceptible others and as potentially everyone's disease† (Sontag, 152). Bela Lugosi first gave Dracula filmic complexity in the 1931 Dracula. His moves were smooth and contemporary, steeped in gender and glamour.His affluent inflection gave the count the religion that awoke the sexuality of female audience members. Christopher Lee (1958) followed in Lugosi's steps and moved Dracula from sexual innuendoes to blatant sexuality. At one point in The Horror of Dracula, he bites a youthful woman's throat-not simply feasting, but apparently experiencing orgasm. Dracula had thus developed into a seduction fantasy, vitally disturbed with the circumstances and penalty of premarital or extramarital luxury in forbidden corporal relations, in this occurrence with the opposite sex.Gary Oldman takes Lee's erotic Dracula one step hither in Coppola's Brain Stoker’s Dracula. When Oldman attempts to nibble the neck of the i noffensive Mina at the Nickelodeon, the camera comes in on a taut attempt of his face as his eyes change color, his fangs are exposed and his corpse tremors with expectation. The transformation of Dracula to his present- day classification makes him the most sexual of all the creatures of the night.Dracula's sexual insinuation and blatant hunger for human blood make him the wonderful mythic vehicle to express American society's fear of the modern day plague of AIDS, since the HIV virus is transmitted through blood and semen. Coppola's Dracula visits his victims in the dead of night or in a dark milieu. He takes Lucy from her bed to connect her with both intercourse and feeding. These visits from the attractive creature who first exhausts the sleeper with fervent embraces and then withdraws her blood symbolically parallels the night-time emissions that convoy erotic dreams.Frank Jones points out in his book â€Å"On the Nightmare of Bloodsucking† : â€Å"In the unconscious mi nd blood is commonly an equivalent for semen† (Gottsman, 59). However, the sentence for these sexual interludes with the leech is the permanent alteration into vampirism; an illness that separates the afflicted from the rest of the society, one that insists on sucking the life out of other people. In this admiration the vampire enters the victim's blood stream, as does the HIV virus, to eventually exhaust the host of his/her life.Coppola cinematically reflects this correlation throughout the course of the film. Initially, Dracula renounces the church, and in doing so plunges his sword into the cross at the alter. Blood then flows from the cross, and Coppola cuts from a stone angel icon releasing tears of blood to a shot of Dracula satisfying a cup and consumption the blood. In this pre- recognition succession, the back illumination creates a striking similarity between Christ and Dracula (the shoulder length hair, smooth skin and ethereal glow).On his return home from war, Dra cula learns of the death of his wife. His stabbing of the cross is a phallic metaphor for intercourse with a virgin, whose loss of virginity is often marked by a loss of blood. The cathedral, infected and raped by war, denies the interment of Dracula's suicided bride. Dracula renounces the church by drinking the blood out of the chalice, declaring that: â€Å"Blood is the life and the life is mine. † Here he metaphorically takes on the position of the bug, gratifying the judge of life and death.David Prindle reinforces the vampire as a metaphor for the virus: â€Å"As a deadly threat, the disease was made to order for melodrama; as a potential sexual assassin, the HIV carrier could easily be portrayed as a demon. † (76). Coppola establishes a departure from innocence to evil by using peacock feathers, representative of innocence and vanity, as a transition between the â€Å"enlightened† world and the dark road to Transylvania as the young Jonathan Harker is sent to Transylvania to work for Dracula.Both virtue and pride are lost when Jonathan encounters a group of female vampires who seduce him throughout his first night in the castle. Coppola reinforces the anonymity of the participants by showing incorporeal footsteps appearing by the bed while the women appear from within his sheets and start to embrace and murmur to Jonathan. He does not resist and follows through in what could be termed a one night stand. The camera shows a head shot of one of the â€Å"vamps† whose hair is made out of snakes, referring to Medusa or the serpent From Genesis that caused the eviction of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.References Babuscio, Jack. â€Å"Camp and the Gay Sensibility. † Gays and Film. Ed. Richard Dyer. New York: Zoetrope, Inc. , 1984. Broeske, Pat. â€Å"Hollywood Goes Batty for Vampires,† New York Times, April 26, 1993. Canby, Vincent, â€Å"Coppola's Dizzying Vision on Dracula,† New York Times, Nov 13, 1993. Douglas, Drake. Horrors! The awful truth about monsters; vampires, werewolves, zombies, phantoms. mummies and ghouls of literature and how tiny went Hollywood. New York: The Overlook Press, 1989.Gottesman, Ronald. Focus on the Horror Film. Trenton, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1972. Hogan, David. Dark Romance-Sexuality in the Horror Film. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. , 1986. Prindle. David. Risky Business. the Political Economy of HollywoodBoulder: Westview Press, 1993. Russo, Vito. The celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies. New York: Harper arid Row Publishers, 1990. Sontag, Susan. Illness as a Metaphor/AIDS and its Metaphors. New York: Doubleday, 1989.