α-glucosidase Inhibitory Effect of Coffee

ÃŽ ±-glucosidase Inhibitory Effect of Coffee Abstract The activity-based fractionation of coffee solutions by a series of chromatography techniques led to the isolation of an active compound I which exhibited a strong inhibitory activity against ÃŽ ±-glucosidase. The structure of compound I was established as norharman (9H-pyrido[3.4-b]indole) on the basis of HR-FAB-MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and 1H-1H COSY spectra. Compound I potently inhibited ÃŽ ±-glucosidase in a concentration dependent manner but it did not exhibit any significant activity against other glycosidases. A Lineweaver-Burk plot revealed that its inhibition mode of enzyme was uncompetitive with a Ki value of 0.13 mM. Keywords: ÃŽ ±-glucosidase inhibitor, ÃŽ ²-carboline, norharman, coffee, uncompetitive inhibitor Introduction Coffee is the most commonly consumed beverages in the world and the health benefits of coffee consumption have been extensively studied [10]: coffee has strong antioxidant properties in vivo [16, 18] and also reduces the risk of Parkinson’s [11] and Alzheimer’s diseases [4]. Recent studies have demonstrated that habitual coffee consumption is related to a significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes [17, 19], but it remains unclear what mechanisms and what coffee constituents are responsible for the observed association. Animal and in vitro studies have suggested several plausible mechanisms for a beneficial effect of coffee on glucose metabolism: increase in insulin sensitivity [14], inhibition of glucose 6-phosphatase [2], an increase of glucagon-like peptide I concentration [15], and decreases the rate of intestinal absorption of glucose [12]. The ÃŽ ±-glucosidase is essential for carbohydrate digestion because carbohydrates must be degraded enzymatically in the intestine before they can be absorbed. The inhibition of ÃŽ ±-glucosidase slows down the process of dietary carbohydrates digestion and avoids postprandial hyperglycemia that plays a central role in the development of chronic diabetes associated complication [8]. Thus, ÃŽ ±-glucosidase inhibitors have exhibited high promise as therapeutic agents for the treatment of metabolic disorders, such as type II non insulin dependent diabetes, obesity, and hyperglycemia [3]. This work was intended to evaluate ÃŽ ±-glucosidase inhibitory effect of coffee previously reported as hypoglycemic and characterize the active principle isolated from coffee. Materials and Methods General p-Nitrophenyl (PNP)-ÃŽ ±-D-glucopyranoside, PNP-ÃŽ ±-D-mannopyranoside, PNP-ÃŽ ²-D-glucopyranoside and PNP-ÃŽ ²-D-galactopyranoside were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). Yeast ÃŽ ±-glucosidase, almond ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, E. coli ÃŽ ²-galactosidase, jack beans ÃŽ ±-mannosidase, rat intestinal acetone powders, and norharman were also obtained from Sigma-Aldrich. Unless stated otherwise, all further chemicals were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. All the reagents were of analytical grade. The UV spectrum was recorded on a Shimadzu model UV-160 spectrophotometer. High- resolution FAB mass spectra were obtained with a JEOL model JMS-AX505 HA spectrometer. 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR spectra were obtained on a Brucker AV 500 spectrometer operating at 500 and 125 MHz, respectively. (CD3)2CO was used as the solvent. Enzyme inhibition assay The intestinal ÃŽ ±-glucosidase inhibitory activity was determined as described previously with a slight modification [5]. The rat intestinal acetone powder was suspended in 100 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) and centrifuged at 12,000 rpm for 15 min. The resultant supernatant was used as the source of the small intestinal ÃŽ ±-glucosidases. For the assay of inhibitory activities of maltase and sucrase, the reaction mixture consisted of crude enzyme solution, 20 mM maltose or 200 mM sucrose, 100 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) and a given amount of inhibitor (50% dimethyl sulfoxide solution) in a total volume of 0.5 ml. After the reaction mixture was incubated for 15 min at 37 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, reaction was stopped by heating the mixture at 100 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ for 5 min. The ÃŽ ±-glucosidase activity was estimated by measuring the liberated glucose amount using the glucose oxidase method. Prior to measuring the glucose amount, the interfering agent, phenolic compounds were r emoved from reaction mixture by passing through a basic alumina column (1 x 3 cm). Acarbose was used as the positive control. The enzymatic activities of the various glycosidases were determined spectrophotometrically by monitoring the release of p-nitrophenol from the appropriate p-nitrophenol glycoside substrate [13]. The assay solutions and the potential inhibitors were added to a 96-well plate as follows: 20 L of 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), 20 L inhibitor, 10 L enzyme (1 U/mL), 10 L of 25 mM substrate and 40 L of methanol. Following incubation at 37  °C for 15 min, the assay solution was stopped by adding 300 L of 1 N NH4OH solution. The glycosidase activity was determined by measuring the amount of 4-nitrophenol released from p-nitrophenol glycoside substrate was determined with a microplate reader model 550 (Bio-Rad, CA, USA) at 405 nm. All of the analyses were performed in triplicate. The concentration of the inhibitor required for inhibiting 50 % of ÃŽ ±-glucosidase activity (IC50) was calculated by adjusting the experimental data (% inhibition versus the concentration of the inhibitor) to non-linear regression curves. The mechanism of enzyme inhibition was assessed by analyzing the double- reciprocal Lineweaver-Burk plot. Isolation of inhibitory compound from coffee Filtered brewed coffee was prepared in a household coffee maker: 75 g of ground roast coffee of Columbian Supremo (Arabica variety) and 500 ml water to give a brewed coffee. Commercial instant coffee (Tasters’ choice, Nestle) was made by dissolving 75 g instant coffee in 300 ml of hot water. Filtered brewed coffee and instant coffee solutions were separately centrifuged at 12,000 rpm and room temperature for 15 min, and used for isolation of ÃŽ ±-glucosidase inhibitor. The supernatant was adjusted to pH 9 with 1 N NaOH and extracted with ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate layer was then extracted with 0.1 N HCl solution. This acidic solution was again adjusted to pH 10 with aqueous ammonia and extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer containing basic components was subsequently evaporated in vacuo. Forty batches of the above ethyl acetate extracts (total 3 kg each of ground coffee and instant coffee) were concentrated and subjected to silica gel column chromatography with an isocratic solvent system of chloroform-acetone (70:30). Fractions containing the active compound (F3-F6) were combined, evaporated, and subjected to a Sephadex LH-20 column (3 x 35cm) with MeOH as an eluent. Fraction number 10-12, which showed a high inhibition and a similar TLC profile (silica gel 60 F254, Merck, chloroform:acetone = 1:1, rf 0.2) were combined and further purified. The final purification of the active compound was achieved through semi-preparative HPLC separation on a reversed phase C18 column (ÃŽ ¼Bondapak, Waters, Milford, MA, USA) eluting with 75 % MeOH and detected through absorption at 254 nm. The retention time was 14.5 min. After removing the HPLC solvent in rotary evaporator, the active compound was obtained as a white powder by crystallization from cold acetone. Results and Discussion Both instant coffee and ground brewed coffee solutions inhibit ÃŽ ±-glucosidase enzyme activity. Instant coffee showed a slightly higher degree of inhibition than brewed coffee (Data not shown). The activity-based fractionation of coffee solutions by a series of chromatography techniques led to the isolation of an active compound I (2.24 ÃŽ ¼g/ g of roasted ground coffee; 3.85 ÃŽ ¼g/ g of instant coffee) which exhibited a strong inhibitory activity against ÃŽ ±-glucosidase. The isolated compound I was shown to be chromatographically pure by TLC and HPLC with various solvent systems and deduced to be a nitrogen-containing compound based on a positive reaction to Dragendorff’s reagent. The UV spectrum of the compound in methanol exhibited absorption maxima at 230, 285 and 348 nm. The molecular formula of compound I was determined to be C11H8N2 (M+ m/z 168.0736; calcd. 168.0688) by high resolution mass analysis. 1H NMR spectrum of compound I showed 7 aromatic proton signals (ÃŽ ´7.2-8.9 ppm) and one free proton signal (ÃŽ ´10.63 ppm). 13C NMR spectrum showed 11 carbon signals around 110-145 ppm (Table 1). Taken together, the structure of compound I was deduced as ÃŽ ²-carboline, norharman (9H-pyrido[3.4-b]indole, Fig. 1) with 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and 1H-1H COSY spectra and confirmed by comparison of physical data with those of the authentic specimen. Compound I potently inhibited ÃŽ ±-glucosidase in a concentration dependent manner, but it did not display any significant inhibitory effects against ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, ÃŽ ±-mannosidase, and ÃŽ ²-galactosidase when tested at a concentration of 10 mM (Table 2). The inhibitory profile demonstrated that the activity of compound I was greater against maltase compared with sucrase (IC50 values: 0.27 mM for maltase and 0.41 mM for sucrase). Although the inhibitory potency was weaker than that of therapeutic drug acarbose (IC50 value: 0.18 mM for maltase and 0.02 mM for sucrase), observed data clearly indicated the potential of compound I as an ÃŽ ±- glucosidase inhibitor. The pre-incubation of compound I with the enzyme increased the inhibition of ÃŽ ±-glucosidase activity, implying that this compound reacted with the enzyme slowly. The ÃŽ ±-glucosidase activity was fully restored when the enzyme was incubated with an amount of compound I which could inhibit enzyme activity up to 90 % follo wed by eliminating the compound I with a PD 10 desalting column (Pharmacia, Piscataway, NJ, U.S.A). This result demonstrated that compound I was a reversible inhibitor. A double-reciprocal Lineweaver-Burk plotting under various amounts of compound I showed linear lines intercepting on 1/V axis in parallel. The kinetic data suggested that the compound I was an uncompetitive inhibitor, with a Ki value of 0.013 mM (Fig. 2). As a result, compound I, a reversible uncompetitive inhibitor of ÃŽ ±-glucosidase, was isolated from coffee and identified as an active principle. When compound I was given in combination with a carbohydrate-rich diet orally, the postprandial plasma glucose levels were significantly dropped in non-diabetic rats (unpublished data). Compound I, a tricyclic indole ÃŽ ²-carboline alkaloid norharman is distributed widely in biological systems and exhibits a wide spectrum of pharmacological and neurological effects: antidepressant and antianxiety effects in rats [7], inhibitory activities of monoamine oxidase and nitric oxide synthase [9], as well as an increase of insulin secretion two- to threefold from isolated human islets of Langerhans [6]. However, ÃŽ ±- glucosidase inhibitory activity of norharman has not previously reported. Coffee has been noted as the primary exogenous source of norharman. A high variability in ÃŽ ²-carboline content of coffee samples was observed between coffee species (arabica, robusta) and also depended on roast degree and instant coffee production process. An average of 3 cups of coffee per person per day could account for an ingestion of up to 72 ÃŽ ¼g of norharman [1], although this will depend on the coffee strength. Coffee contains numerous substances. However, little is known regarding the effects of individual constituents on glucose metabolism. The cohort study has supported that the most prominent coffee compound caffeine is irrelevant to risk of type 2 diabetes [20]. Chlorogenic acid, the most abundant polyphenol in coffee, has been shown to reduce glucose concentrations in rats, caused by increasing insulin sensitivity as well as reducing hepatic glucose output through inhibition of glucose 6-phosphatase [12]. Without excluding any other possible mechanism, this report observes ÃŽ ±-glucosidase inhibitory activity as a possible mechanism of hypoglycemic effect of coffee and assigns ÃŽ ²-carboline alkaloid norharman as one of active principles in coffee. Coffee appears to contain active principles other than norharman as evidenced by several active peaks in chromatography systems. It may be possible that various active constituents in coffee act synergistically against ÃŽ ±-glucosidase acti vity. Characterization of other active principles is under progress. Figure legends Fig. 1. Structure of compound I (ÃŽ ²-carboline alkaloid norharman). Fig. 2. A Lineweaver-Burk plot analysis of rat intestine ÃŽ ±-glucosidase inhibition by compound I. 4-Nitrophenol-ÃŽ ±-D-glucopyranoside was used as a substrate. The concentration of compound I was 0 mM () or 0.25mM (). The values are expressed as means of triplicate reactions. Table 1. 1H and 13C NMR data for compound I in (CD3)2CO (ÃŽ ´ in ppm and J in Hz) position ÃŽ ´C ÃŽ ´H multiplicity, J 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 NH 10 11 12 13 134.8 139.5 115.1 122.3 120.1 128.9 112.4 122.1 112.6 137.2 141.6 8.90 8.33 8.0 8.28 7.21 7.53 7.60 10.63 (1H, br, s) ( 1H, d) J=5.5 (1H, d) J=5.5 (1H, d) J=8.0 (1H, ddd) J=8.0, 7.0, 1.0 (1H, ddd) J=7.5, 7.5, 1.0 (1H, dd) J=8.2, 1.0 (1H, br. s) Table 2. Inhibitory effects of compound I against various glycosidases Enzyme IC 50 ( ÃŽ ¼M) ÃŽ ±-glucosidase (yeast) 180  ± 3.2 Maltase (rat intestine) 270  ± 4.5 Sucrose (rat intestine) 410  ± 11.3 ÃŽ ²-glucosidase (almond) >1.0 x 104 ÃŽ ±-mannosidase (jack bean) >1.0 x 104 ÃŽ ²-galactosidase (E. coli) >1.0 x 104 Values are expressed as the means of triplicate reactions  ± standard deviation.

Alienation and Moral Dilemma as Portrayed by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay

Alienation and Moral Dilemma as Portrayed by Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorn was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804 during Puritan times. He created many stories that reflect his life experiences growing up as a Puritan. He writes stories that end with a moral that was learned through the struggles of the characters. These characters are almost always faced with a dilemma where they must choose what is right versus what is wrong. Another common theme in his writing is alienation. These concepts can be found in the stories â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil,† and â€Å"The Birth Mark.† They are all about a life altering decision one must face and the consequences of that decision. In â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† the dilemma faced by the main character is about the strength of his faith in God and the trust he losses for his wife and community. In â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil,† a minister is struggling with his own sins and his fear of them being revealed to his congregation. Finally, in â€Å"The Birth Mark,† the main character becomes obsessed with a slight physical flaw on wife’s face; an obsession that ultimately leads to the destruction the thing he cherished most dearly. The story, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† is about a man named Goodman Brown who must leave his wife Faith to go on a fateful journey – a journey whose reason is left to speculation. He must go into the local forest, refuse the temptations of the devil, and return to the village before sunrise. He embarks on this journey and returns a changed man for the evils he encountered made him lose his faith in the community around him. The decision or struggle that Brown is faced with in the story is between the evil temptations that lurk in the fore... ...l E., â€Å"The Consequences of Puritan Depravity and Distrust as Historical Context for Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown,’† www.itech.fgcu.edu, http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/Hawthorne.htm Mota, Joshua, â€Å"The Minister's Black Veil,† www.ri.net, http://www.ri.net/schools/Pawtucket/Tolman/ODonnell/MOTAWEB/veil.html Reuban, Paul P, â€Å"PAL: Perspectives in American Literature: A Research and Reference Guide† An Ongoing Online Project, www.csustan.edu, http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap3/hawthorne.html Sharpe, Lynda, â€Å"The Birth-mark by Nathaniel Hawthorne,† www.vcu.edu, http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng491/bm-base.htm Shoemaker ,Jacqueline, â€Å"Hawthorne's Realm of Morality: Biographical Contexts for ‘Young Goodman Brown,’† www.itech.fgcu.edu, http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/wohlpart/alra/Hawthorne.htm http://ipl.org/ http://www.wwnorton.com

How We Got The King James Version :: essays research papers

â€Å"The King James Version has become so sanctified by time and use that to many people it has come to be regarded as the Bible.† Our English Bible   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  James I was born in 1566 and died in 1625. He belonged to the House of Stuart along with all the other Kings of Scotland and a few from England. James I became the King of England when Elizabeth I, his cousin, died. This happened in the year 1603. When he took over the English throne, he was also the King of Scotland and ruled under the name of King James IV. He ruled both England and Scotland until he died. Charles I, James’s son, was the successor to both of the thrones. James believed in the divine right of kings, the ability to rule as a king from God, not the people. James had many thing named after him, and Jamestown is probably the most famous other that the King James Version of the Bible. James, formerly know as King James VI of Scotland, is accredited with this version of the translation of the Bible. Around 1603, James came to England for the reason of succeeding Elizabeth in the throne and became King James I. As soon as he arrived in England, the Hampton Court Conference was held for the reason to hear of the problems of the church. This conference failed its purpose, but one of the best translations of the word of God came from it. John Reynolds, president of Corpus Christi College, was the sole motivator for this new translation and he was the one that got King James to start on the translation. His immediately got James attention and he soon started the translations soon after There was one stipulation that James had and it was that there be no notes in the margins of the new book. He found all those notes to be untrue and dangerous to kings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Within Six months the general plans were drawn up and ready to be carried out. James had had to choose scholars that he thought were trustworthy and ready for the task ahead. His original list consisted of 54 of these scholars. Before it was over with, this list had dwindled down to 47. The reason for the drop in number was because of death and also some of the scholars withdrew from the work. Now that all these men had been chosen, they had to be dived up into teams. How We Got The King James Version :: essays research papers â€Å"The King James Version has become so sanctified by time and use that to many people it has come to be regarded as the Bible.† Our English Bible   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  James I was born in 1566 and died in 1625. He belonged to the House of Stuart along with all the other Kings of Scotland and a few from England. James I became the King of England when Elizabeth I, his cousin, died. This happened in the year 1603. When he took over the English throne, he was also the King of Scotland and ruled under the name of King James IV. He ruled both England and Scotland until he died. Charles I, James’s son, was the successor to both of the thrones. James believed in the divine right of kings, the ability to rule as a king from God, not the people. James had many thing named after him, and Jamestown is probably the most famous other that the King James Version of the Bible. James, formerly know as King James VI of Scotland, is accredited with this version of the translation of the Bible. Around 1603, James came to England for the reason of succeeding Elizabeth in the throne and became King James I. As soon as he arrived in England, the Hampton Court Conference was held for the reason to hear of the problems of the church. This conference failed its purpose, but one of the best translations of the word of God came from it. John Reynolds, president of Corpus Christi College, was the sole motivator for this new translation and he was the one that got King James to start on the translation. His immediately got James attention and he soon started the translations soon after There was one stipulation that James had and it was that there be no notes in the margins of the new book. He found all those notes to be untrue and dangerous to kings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Within Six months the general plans were drawn up and ready to be carried out. James had had to choose scholars that he thought were trustworthy and ready for the task ahead. His original list consisted of 54 of these scholars. Before it was over with, this list had dwindled down to 47. The reason for the drop in number was because of death and also some of the scholars withdrew from the work. Now that all these men had been chosen, they had to be dived up into teams.

The Door Slammed Shut, Never to Be Opened Again

The Priest finished off his final words, I tried to savor them knowing that after today I wanted to forget it all; not because I didn’t care, it was quite the opposite actually! It’s just that I know it would be what she wanted. As much as I tried and begged she kept flooding my mind, it’s impossible to throw something like this over your shoulder and ignore the remnants of the past. The blackness of the day contrasted with the overwhelming sunshine and broken heat waves.It was all too much and now at least the worst part was over, I took my last and final glance to the beautiful hand carved woodwork, standard size, polished frame, finished with gold hinges and large metallic black buckles. The coffin stood. The walk back to the car was a rush of images and an overpowering sensation of memories driven into my mind like the intricate bodywork on the stunning 1996 Rolls Royce that was driven by my chauffer, I couldn’t think about anything else but that one a wful night. That one night that changed my life.Forever. The car ride wasn’t much better the same commotions pounding the walls of my weakened cranium. I placed my hands at either temple and continually pressed harder and harder until it was painful and the pictures in my head were drowning with the pressure of my unlawful grasp. I saw the chauffer glance once or twice back at me through his rear view mirror but that was not any where near a priority of mine. Innocent white blotches stained my face as blood slowly brought colour back to my facade.I grabbed the cold shiny metal handle and much too roughly pushed it down to me set me free, all my body leapt out unwillingly as the door swung wide open uncontrollably, releasing me into the pavements merciless lure. My head whipped the grey concrete slabs with an overwhelming impact that destroyed my senses and put me in a deep darkness. I awoke to find a spinning ceiling fun unstably rocking back and forth above my head. I closed my eyes hoping to dissolve back into the safe hands of arkness where all my worries were beautifully decapitated and I with everything else was nothing! But it was useless, once again she swamped my mind and my eyes watered. I see myself as a kid happy and safe, we both standing there as a team side-by-side. We were in Argentina and the beautiful Andes consumed most of my hazy image. She hugs me and I smile and laugh, in her eyes were untainted love and looking into them I felt that I wouldn’t ever be lonesome, she made my petty little worries disappear and if only she was here now.I would tell her how much I love her! My eyes opened and simultaneously a tear ran down the side of my face. I miss her and I can’t help but think about her. It feels like its been years since her loving eyes stared straight into mine. I kept telling myself that I have to resist and tire my mind, but the more I tried the more I thought of her. I slowly got off the couch and looked around, t his was the first time I’ve been back home since it happened. My partial-completed memory of the tragedy was over-whelming me; it was like I was spinning in a never-ending vortex.I took three steps into the kitchen and let out a cry, they hadn’t even cleaned up. I ran back and stopped at the foot of the staircase. I took my first step, step one; I was worried. She swamped my head I was just†¦ just†¦ I can’t but I needed to. I took it one step at a time and gradually I progressed up and up, until I reached the final step before the landing. And. I look around knowing that this last step will punish me, but I must†¦ but what if†¦ and I stopped myself knowing that no good can come of thinking too much. The memories were still tormenting my mind.I lift my trembling leg and placed it on the landing as if the floor was made out of paper I clenched the banister and lifted my other foot. I gave in and released my entire weight upon this drowsy missio n I set myself not knowing what good can possibly occur. I turned my body to the left and saw the door ajar. This is where she used to work peacefully in the next room, quietly and delicately, innocently and lovingly, she, and I. Side-by-side. I walked the length of the corridor. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. To go inside. I knew it would be difficult but.. ut.. No! This was not supposed to be. I can’t. I can’t do it. More pictures and short memories were free to roam around in my head. More tears flooded my face. I saw her beautiful face and I saw her†¦ I saw it all again†¦ exactly what I never wanted to see†¦ exactly what I was avoiding †¦ It was scarred into my head. I saw her innocent face lying in a pool of her own blood in the middle of the kitchen. The image tormented me and haunted me. I threw out my hand and grabbed the handle, I threw back my shoulder and†¦ The door slammed shut never to be opened again!

Lifespan Human Development Essay

Lifespan, simply defined, is the utmost period of time that a living being can survive. Lifespan can also be applied to a material or object. For a human, the period between his birth and death is a process that is identified as the lifespan development. According to Rebecca Heron (2010), lifespan development encompasses all of the developments or changes that occur from birth throughout life. Others termed lifespan development as a series of events that took place in a person’s life that made him more knowledgeable or wise. Others call it journey. Everyone has their own stories to tell. No matter how sad or colorful one’s story is, it is still something that we can call journey. Let me start mine by letting you know something about me. I am a Latin-American (Cuban) male. I was raised in Newark, NJ and I am in my late thirties now. When I got married last 2004, I moved down to south Jersey. People say that I am a good listener and that I give a good piece of advise. Like every other teenagers, I can say that I gained experiences from my teenage years. Thanks for my best friend Denniz; she was always there especially during my rough times in relationships. She was my shoulder to cry on when I needed one. D. Boyd and H. Bee (2009) tell that there is a Learning Theory that can be applied in a person’s life. According to this theory, one’s development results from an accumulation of experiences. I agree to this concept because I can say that people goes through a lot of experiences in life. Love is a great experience. I can still remember being in love and being out of love but still moved on. With a friend like Denniz, who says life can be so tough? We used to hang out most o the time as I can remember but then she has to move to California during our late teens. We continue to talk over the phone, share each others’ stories until fate has to take her away. A terrible car accident took the life out of my friend and until now, there is never a day that I do not think of her. I know that whatever I am right now, she is a part of it. Living on the darkest point of my life, somehow, I manage to move on. In fact, I acknowledge the need for higher education that is why I pursue studying. I can say that despite the hardships I had, I also gained success. I manage to buy a home, getting married, being asked to speak at my GED graduation on TV, and simply being there to help my parents when they needed me most. I also value simple things like my dog licking my face, the warmth smile of wife, and sometimes, being very child like. I got hurt a lot of times. First, when my best friend died. Then, when I found out that my aunt died in a cold hospital room instead of spending her time with her family. I also got hurt when I was laid-off from my job of 14 years which made me feel that I failed my wife. Because of this, I make sure that I do not disappoint someone, especially my loved ones. I developed the hatred for failure. However, I believe that life is a form of trial and error. Whenever my actions did not produce the outcome that I wanted, I re-think and plan again. Until I am very sure that I will be successful. Intelligence and sensitivity are imparted to me by my parents. There are times that I am emotional rather than logical. But with a bundle of experiences that I have in my life, I learned to balance both of them when I wanted to be successful in the things I do or the decisions I made. I can say that I am in the middle of my journey now. I believe that there are more experiences for me to face and I am ready for it. I had become a better person because of the experiences in my life because it taught me how to be tough and move forward. Twenty or thirty years from now, I want to see myself obtaining a degree in nursing. It feels good that your parents and wife are proud of you. They had been there when I started this task and I want them to be there when I am successful. Of course, I also want to have children of my own where I can be a proud parent someday. I want to teach them what my parents taught me and am able to know that I and my wife have influenced them in a fine way. Now, I can say that my goal as of the moment is to change the relationship between me and my two older brothers. We did not develop expressing our feelings towards each other on our younger years even though we spend a lot of time together. As I age, I feel the need to open up more with them because our relationship as siblings becomes deeper. I’d also like to see my friend Denniz someday. I like to tell her what I went through and how she had become part of it. I’d like to tell her that she is never forgotten and that she is the best friend I ever had. I’d also like to see my aunt. I wanted to say sorry for not being there when she needed us. I’d tell her that we cared for her and ask for her forgiveness. Trials come at times when you do not expect it but with a strong bond with family and friends, it is easy to overcome. With all the influences I have in this journey of mine, I owe most of it to my family. From the hobby of watching movies, to being charismatic and even being open-minded about things, I got it from my family and some from my friends. They are most important to me. That is why disappointing them is the least that I want to do. I’d rather use my ability to make them laugh and see smiles on their faces rather than inflict pain on their hearts. References Bee, Helen and Boyd, Denise. (2009). Lifespan Development. Prentice Hall. Heron, Rebecca (2010). Definition of Lifespan Development, retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www. ehow. com/facts_6066997_definition-lifespan-development. html

As technology advances, humans are becoming redundant. Essay

The development of technology is unstoppable and it shouldn’t be. There are the fans of innovations and people who prefer the traditional way of every factor of life. But in my opinion we should remember that technology is made by us, by people and it is created to make our lives easier, but not to make our lives useless. That’s why I do not agree with the thesis that as technology advances, humans are becoming redundant. In the movie â€Å"Walle† there was presented a vision of a generation so dependent on technology, that their lives were mostly based on eating, sleeping and procrastinating. Every person that I asked about this movie reacted the same. This vision horrified everyone. I think it had such a huge impact on receivers, because it makes us realize that we don’t want to end up like this. We don’t really want to sit and do nothing, despite the fact that sometimes this sounds like the best idea in the world. I like to assume that we all have some goal we want to achieve and our lives are the story of how we are getting there, to the final point. So even if the technology will be improve to the point where our every day responsibilities will be taken over, we will still find something that keeps us busy. This is how life works. Even, when somebody is rich enough to afford everything and don’t need to do absolutely anything, still he finds some passion or job, another goal. Although technology is very helpful, I do think that it is not completely unerring. If the internet would broke, the whole world would stop to function properly. Most of money, documents, contacts, programs, from Facebook to the Governmental data base, or banks accounts we have online. Everything would disappear. We cannot rely only on technology. We have to collaborate with it. Use it for help, but remember about that nothing is unfailing. There is no way to leave technology all by itself. It was created by humans, so it have to be lead and operated by humans.

An Evaluation of Money with No Intrinsic Value in Naked Economics

An Evaluation of Money with No Intrinsic Value in Naked Economics Money, at least in the modern sense, has no intrinsic value. Because it does not need to. It is for people to have an ease in transaction. Money needs to be easily stored, commonly accepted, and store some value dictated by its users. This seems perfect—the dollar can be stored in your wallet, or online, and everyone in the United States has to accept it. However, fiat money can be manipulated by governments both for malevolent—in the case of North Korea cutting the money supply to control black market businesses, all while making North Koreans poorer—and for benevolent purposes—the United States Federal Reserve creating more money out of scratch to help with the economic recovery following the 2008 Great Recession. Because the money is not backed by materials with intrinsic value, the government can manipulate the value of money. However, fiat money is worse than money with intrinsic value—the mackerel pouches in prisons, money backed by gold, or g old itself—because it can increase in supply as the economy grows. If money were limited to materials with intrinsic values, the economy would not be able to grow easily—it is a lot harder to find five percent more gold in the world than it is to create five percent more fiat money when the economy grows by five percent. Money without intrinsic value also only has to be commonly accepted, as in the case of the Somalian shilling, in order to function as money. People need money because people need a way to keep track of their wealth, easily store their wealth for future purposes, and to exchange their wealth easily for other goods and services. Fiat money fulfills those requirements—it is easy to assign a value to, it is easily stored in paper, bank accounts, or even bits and bytes among other methods, and can be exchanged as easily as a click of a button. And its supply can always be increased when the economy grows.