German and French Fascism between 1870 and 1939 Essay

German and French Fascism between 1870 and 1939 - Essay Example German and French Fascism between 1870 and 1939 Social unrest between the opposed classes increase and terminates a social revolution. Marx despised ethical dissertation and constantly opposed moralistic involvements in the political and social issues. Marxism proclaimed that Communists did not preach morality at all. Marx did not show any interest in discussions on how people ought to act in a morally defensible way. He argued that capitalism had destroyed morality and turned it into a real lie. Attempts to develop socialistic ideas on moral precepts were considered as being distractions from the significance of confronting the fundamental causes of social misery in the course of material production. Marx opposed the commodification of labor and held that it rendered the worker economical and political powerless. Marxism on the other hand is based on a philosophical viewpoint called dialectical materialism. This precept holds that the history of humans is the story of class warfare. The society in this case is seen to struggle through different development stages. At each stage of development, the proletariat gains some more freedom that brings them closer to their goal of proletarian revolution. According to the maxims, there is no principle that supports the history of the materialistic, there is no God.The believe that religion is false is hereby considered to be a bourgeoisie tool which attempts to prevent the communist revolution. In the German revolution, the ruling class opposed the precepts of maxims. The struggle of the people to move to a state of freedom is considered to have been a real struggle. However, Marx still pushed on with his ideologies for the establishment of a revolutionized community. Trotsky who addressed the Germany communist Party to stop Fascism seconds the analys is. His aim was that they break not the Comintern itself but the Comintern policy5. Germany revolution ends, due in large part to some democratic parties6. Some of the parties during this revolution belonged to the old second international. Prior to the war, the social democratic party had never held power but only remained in the opposition and therefore supported the war. The statement executes Karl Rosa Luxemburg. In January 1923, the French administrations send troops to occupy the Ruhr. Unrests soar while the working class takeoffs massive strikes and wiping out the savings of the middle class. Some parties labeled themselves ‘Marxist’ while forty-five percent of the total voters supported them. Some ultra-rights movements grew and emphasized on the Marxism ideology of unity of the international working class. Hitler was very hostile to this ideology of Marxism due to its emphasis on the unity of the global working class instead of on racial solidarity7. The plan t o defend Belgium was aimed at making a stand at a line of forts between the league and the Antwerp cities. The British armies found them under attack on May 13 since they had been unaware that the Germany paratrooper units had already captured their forts. The offensive of Germany to the south unexpectedly emerged from Ardennes forests at the second time. During the following few days, the main allied armies were trapped between the German forces and were therefore unable to protect either Paris or stop the Germans from entering to the English channel8. The German troops to the south went on between the

The dogs Essay Example for Free

The dogs Essay The outdoors contains many wonders that a child explores throughout the early years of life; therefore, a person’s childhood tends to position his path for the future. As a result, occurrences seen on an average day sitting at school, exploring in the woods, or examining the stars have the potential to be life changing. An American Childhood (Dillard), â€Å"Two Views of a River† (Twain), and â€Å"Listening† (Welty) all allocate this thought, yet the works juxtapose each other with different morals. Annie Dillard writes of the expectations of her to return after completing college and settling in the same town in which she resides her entire life before attending college: â€Å"It crawled down the driveway toward Shadyside, one of the several sections of town where people like me were expected to settle after college, renting an apartment until they married one of the boys and bought a house† (2). Dillard feels essentially unpermitted to broaden her horizon of a future. She believes she had been restricted too early and therefore Dillard feels she is not allowed to live up to her possible potential. Mark Twain, on the other hand, writes of the river and its influence upon him: This sun means that we are going to have wind tomorrow; that floating log means that the river is rising, small thanks to it; that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody’s steamboat one of these nights if it keeps on stretching out like that [†¦]. (1) Within his piece, Twain wonders if he were to have noticed all the diminutive and revealing things of the river as a child, whether it would have foreshadowed the future from the perspective from which he sees the past now. Twain wishes he had respected the river further as a child rather than simply viewing it as an effortless beauty. Eudora Welty also writes of her childhood, explaining her love for the sky and all that dwells within it. She states, â€Å"I could see the full [continues]

Neurobiology of Memory Reconsolidation

Neurobiology of Memory Reconsolidation What is the current understanding of the neurobiology of memory reconsolidation and how will impact psychology. Abstract This essay is focusing on the neurobiology of memory reconsolidation, specifically on the molecular mechanisms of LTP and reconsolidation, and the crucial role synaptic plasticity plays in fear conditioning and its resultant implication for psychopathology specifically Posttraumatic stress disorder This essay is focusing on current understanding of the neurobiology of memory reconsolidation, specifically on the molecular mechanisms of LTP and reconsolidation, and its resultant implication for psychopathology specifically promising research using propranolol and d-cycloserine as a treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. Memory consolidationis the process by which memories are stabilised after being acquired. Consolidation studies have traditionally focused on the hippocampus andsystems consolidation, whereshort term memories become long term memories and independent of thehippocampus over time (Pinel, 2011). The more recently discovered process of consolidation is synaptic consolidation, which occurs within the first few hours after learning, and requires protein synthesis and gene transcription (Pinel, 2011). Long term memories were once considered to be stable, but within the last decade, the discovery of reconsolidation, the process in which stored memories can be retrieved and held in labile short-term memory, has changed theory and research on memory (Pinel, 2011). The neurobiological process of synaptic memory consolidation is thought to be long-term potentiation (LTP), which is the prolonged strengthening of the synapse with increased signalling between two neurons (Sacktor, 2012). The model of LTP and synaptic consolidation, as first theorised by Hebb (Pinel, 2011), suggests that changes in membrane potential and alterations of synapticprotein synthesis such as activating Phosporylated Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK),are achieved through activatingintracellular transduction cascades, such as glutamate activating the NMDA receptor so that calcium ions can enter the neuron. These molecular cascades triggertranscription factors such as CREBthat lead to changes ingene expression through RNA synthesis (Pinel, 2011). The result of the gene expression is the lasting structural remodelling of synapses. This complex process of the molecular cascade, expression and process of transcription factors, is susceptible to disruptions in the short ti me period immediately following memory induction (Nader, Schafe LeDoux, 2000a). The potential for memory to be distrupted during consolidation has been extensively researched using pharmacology and trauma. For example, in experiments on Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats, LTP and fear conditioning were blocked when NMDA-receptorantagonistswere administered (Nader et al, 2000b). This process ofLTPis regarded as a contributing factor tosynaptic plasticityand in the growth ofsynaptic strength, and is thought to underlie memory formation, as it affects memory when disrupted. It was previously thought that even though this long process of consolidation could be disrupted, once a memory was consolidated it could not be disrupted. This classic view has been revised over the last 15 years, with extensive research showing that consolidated memories, once retrieved, revert to a labile state where they can be disrupted and undergo another consolidation process, called reconsolidation. (Shwabe, 2014). Reconsolidation was first hypothesised after studies were done using electroconvulsive shock therapy to disrupt consolidated fear memory (Tronson Taylor, 2007). Nader’s (2000a) landmark research using Pavlovianfear conditioningon rats found that a consolidated fear memory can return to alabilestate, when the amygdalais infused with theprotein synthesis inhibitor anisomycin. Subsequent studies have also shown that post-retrieval treatment with protein synthesis inhibitors can lead to an amnestic state (Shwabe, 2014). It has been concluded therefore that cons olidated fear memory, when reactivated, enters a changeable state that requires de novo protein synthesisfor new consolidation or reconsolidation of the old memory (Shwabe, 2014). Since these breakthrough studies many more have found evidence supporting reconsolidation, and have explored its processes and implications. Reconsolidation research over the last decade has demonstrated that some, but not all memories can be strengthened, weakened, or updated thus providing an opportunity to modify some long term memories (Shwabe, 2014). This very limited essay will focus on a few of the important animal and human studies related to fear memory and reconsolidation theory and its implications for psychology. Fear conditioning, fear memory and extinction learning experiments, often use manipulations of theamygdala, due to its involvement in the encoding and memory of significant emotional experiences (Agren et al, 2012). Most of the research on reconsolidation has been done on animals, one of the first studies of human fear memory consolidation was by Kindt in 2009 in which healthy participants were first fear-conditioned and the fear was reactivated by a single presentation of a conditioned stimulus 24 hours later. Shortly before memory reactivation, participants received the beta-adrenergic receptor blocker propranolol during the proposed reconsolidation window, which resulted in substantial weakening of the behavioural fear response and the return of fear memory. Research by Schiller (2010) also explored fear memory activation and update mechanisms and extinction learning, and found the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays an important role (Schiller, 2013). Agren et al (2012) also demonstrated fear memory trace erasure in the amygdala of humans using behavioural manipulations. Using functional brain imaging, Agren and colleagues (2012) found that when reconsolidation was disrupted through extinction training, the fear memory was significantly weakened and the memory trace was erased in the amygdala. Additional important recent research providing support for memory updating used Pavlovian fear conditioning manipulations and micro density heat map measures of fear memory on the lateral amygdala of rats, and found that the memory recapitulated not only in the same location but in new areas during reconsolidation (Bergstrom, McDonald, Dey, Tang, Selwyn Johnson, 2013). These, and many more important studies using different experimental manipulations, suggest that memory is labile and updated after reactivation, and that more or less the same areas are recruited for reconsolidation that are involved in initial memory formation. The potential ability to modify established emotional memories through the processes of memory updating, reconsolidationand extinction of conditioned fear memories has important implications for the treatment of many mental disorders, including anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder is classified as ananxiety disorderin the DSM iV, characteristic symptoms of PTSD are strong traumatic memories that are continuously retrieved in an intrusive manner, causing re-experiencing of the original trauma (Schwabe, 2014).Research is focusing on testing pharmacological treatments and behavioural interventions that target memory reconsolidation in PTSD populations. One drug being researched in neurobiology for the treatment of PTSD is propranolol, the b-adrenergic receptor antagonist that has effects on protein synthesis. The idea that propranolol could be a useful treatment in PTSD stemmed from studies showing that this drug can disrupt the reconsolidation of fear conditioning in animal models and humans (Kindt, 2009). There is some evidence of success with propranolol, such as in pilot studies by Pitman (2002) and Vaiva (2003) which found that immediate treatment with propranolol decreases posttraumatic stress disorder two months after trauma. In recent experiments using propranolol, patients with chronic PTSD were asked to prepare a written script of their personal traumatic experience that caused the PTSD. Each patient then received either propranolol or a placebo (Brunet et al, 2008). One week later, all patients underwent a procedure where there physiological arousal was tested as the script was read. The results showed that psychophysiological responding was significantly lower in patients who had received propranolol a week earlier than in patients who were administered a placebo. These findings were replicated and extended in three open-label studies where PTSD symptoms were significantly lower than at pretreatment (Brunet et al, 2011). In these promising studies on the effect of post-retrieval propranolol in chronic PTSD it is ambiguous as to whether the benefits were from propranolol enhancement or the psychological intervention; And whether propranolol enhanced extinction consolidation or blocked memory reconsoli dation. (de Kleine et al, 2013). Some of these studies also lacked the appropriate control groups that would be required to conclude that the observed effects are due to changes in memory reconsolidation, however, these findings suggest that postretrieval manipulations with propranolol might be a promising tool in the treatment of PTSD, even when the trauma is decades old. d-cycloserine (DCS) is another pharmacological intervention being recently researched in reconsolidation and PTSD due to it being a partial NMDA receptor agonist and extinction enhancer (De Kliene, 2014). Research on using exposure therapy with DCS for PTSD suggests that it could be promising (De Kliene, 2014). Exposure therapy is established as an effective form of fear extinction training in PTSD through the repeated exposure of the trauma memory, and its emotional processing (De Kliene, 2014). De Kleine, Hendriks, Kusters, Broekman, and van Minnen (2012) investigated the effect of DCS on exposure therapy on a female civilian population and found no overall enhancement effects, but a stronger treatment response. However, a second study on a male veteran population found a significant enhancement (Litz et al, 2012). Some criticisms of these studies were the possibility that DCS might have undesirable effects when there is no in session fear extinction, and the need for more research and better administration of the drug (De Kleine, 2014). Sheeringa (2014) researched the effect of d-cycloserine with cognitive behaviour therapy on pediatric posttraumatic stress using a randomized placebo-controlled d-cycloserine. So far, DCS has only shown as extinction effect when used with behavioural training such as exposure therapy and CBT. This study did not show a greater effect on reducing PTSD symptoms, but did show preliminary evidence for improving attention of participants. Another promising study currently in press looked at whether DCS enhanced psychotherapy when used with virtual reality trauma exposure therapy (Difede, 2014). The pilot trial was randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind and found significantly greater PTSD remission rates for DCS group, with larger between groups effect sizes (Difede, 2014). Understanding the processes of reconsolidation and the crucial role synaptic plasticity plays in fear conditioning does have exciting and important implication for psychopathology specifically PTSD. There are still barriers and boundary conditions to be understood and overcome for example, memory age and strength. In Posttraumatic stress disorder, unwanted memories need to be retrieved and destabilized before they can be modified during reconsolidation. One of the barriers particular to PTSD is that researchers have proposed that younger and weaker memories are more likely to be modified after reconsolidation than older and stronger memories which are less likely to be modified (Wihchet, 2011). Further boundary conditions highlighted by Shwabe at al (2014) is the context in which the reactivation takes place, and the presence of new information at reactivation of the memories. Therefore, more research is needed to understand exactly when memories do and do not undergo reconsolidation in order to use reconsolidation as a treatment for disorders such as PTSD.

Aldous Huxleys A Brave New World Essays -- Technology A Brave New Wor

Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World The New World, a man-made Utopia, governed by its motto, Community, Identity, Stability (Huxley 3). A man-made world in every way. Human beings fertilized in bottles. Identity, gender, intelligence, position in society, all predestined. Human beings classified in the order of precedence: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Every one conditioned to be a certain way. Every one works for every one else (Huxley, 74). All man-made to ensure social stability. Is society in the New World truly better than in the 2000s? Are people in the New World truly happier than we are in the 2000s? Do we in the 2000s have any thing in common with the New World? Are there significant sociological differences between the 2000s and the New World? These are questions I found myself pondering as I lay down Aldous Huxley's brilliant A Brave New World. We have tremendous expectations of our Mothers. In the 2000s , our ideal Mother give life to her child, provides unconditional love to her child, and nurtures her child. There is a special bond between a Mother and her child. We have learned to recognize, respect, and appreciate the self-sacrifices and hardships that a Mother endures for her child. Those of us less fortunate, craves the love, care, and attention of a good Mother and good parents. To provide good parenting to our children are the goals and concerns of every good parents. Parental affection and guidance, or lack thereof, plays a vital role in our lives. We promote childbirth as a natural, fulfilling experience for women (Lamaze International, Online). In the New World, Mother is a smutty word (Huxley 36). Mothers, parents, and families were taught and understood as viviparous. Our 90s society woul... ...itics, the social instability. Should we sacrifice the good of the 2000s for the social stability of the New World? I want to say that I can not be certain, for I do believe in different systems, different values. But I can not say that. I live in the 2000s society and I grew up with my own set of belief. My own ideology. Therefore I have my bias opinion. Isn't social instability the path to finding true happiness? Without the bad, how will you recognize the good? If every thing is predestined, what is the purpose of life? If there is no individual love, what is there to live for? Self-happiness verses state-happiness. If self-happiness is selfish - then I am. Works Cited Huxley, Aldous. A Brave New World. 1932, 1946. National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) 10 February 1998 . Europe Against Drugs (EURAD) Date Unknown . Lamaze International Date Unknown .

Product positioning Essay

What do you do? Keep in mind that the question has to be answered from the customer’s point of view and clearly state what the product does for the customer. Customers develop opinions about companies and products, and the positioning of each in the mind of the customer always occurs in relation to the competition or the customer’s other alternatives (which may include doing nothing). While marketing communications play a part in developing the desired position, it’s worth noting that in reality customers make up their minds based on a wider range f factors, including packaging, pricing, product performance, references and media recommendations. Positioning fundamentals: Positioning is the single greatest influence on a customer’s buying decision. Each customer evaluates products in the market according to their mental map of the market. Positioning exists in customers’ minds, not in positioning statements. People do not easily or willingly change their minds about a product’s positioning. Positioning must first demonstrate a product’s relevance, using supportable, credible, nd factual terms. Making the product easier to buy through effective positioning makes the product easier to sell. Mapping the market Mapping the market involves identifying and staking out the most relevant customer segments. It enables you to establish and potentially control how your product is viewed in terms of benefit and differentiation. Benefit: The advantage conveyed by the product to the target customer based on his compelling reason to buy. makes you unique in the marketplace, at the same time bearing relevance to the Positioning template The positioning template can help you to express the fundamental value proposition that your product provides to a target customer and the market. It must identify the: target customer or market compelling reason to buy product’s placement within a new or existing category key benefit that directly addresses the compelling reason to buy primary alternative source (i. e. , competitor) of the same benefit key difference or point of differentiation Positioning statement The positioning template enables you to create a positioning statement, which xplains who you are, what you offer, whom it is for, and why it is important and compelling. The positioning statement should meet several key criteria: It effectively identifies the target customer or segment, and makes the situation clear and understandable. It makes your claim (and related benefit) concise, singular and compelling, and supports it by credible evidence. It makes the differentiation statement concise, singular, compelling, and supportable, and it reflects the target customer’s attributes and environment. It passes the â€Å"elevator test† (i. . , it can be explained in a few words). Using the template, a positioning statement can be structured like this: For (target customer or market)†¦ Who (have a compelling reason to buy)†¦ Our product is a (product’s placement within a new or existing category)†¦. That provides (key benefit that directly addresses the compelling reason to buy) Unlike (primary alternative source (i. e. , competitor) of the same benefit) Our product (key difference or point of differentiation in relation to the specific target customer) Positioning and market type In a new market, you must define the market and your company’s place within it. This involves positioning your company to visionary buyers as a thought leader within an emerging, highly promising market category. You must also demonstrate your product’s benefit or competitive advantage against existing products and the status quo. In an existing market, the positioning changes. Here, it must demonstrate to credible and comprehensive option for the customers’ needs. In order to achieve the desired positioning, your communication must clearly articulate your unique points of differentiation.

Marx, Durkheim, Weber essays

Marx, Durkheim, Weber essays Karl Marx considered one of the worlds greatest thinkers by the Wall Street Journal thought that people should try to change society. Exiled from his native country of Germany for trying to ignite a revolution believed the main struggle in human life was class conflict. One of the lasting impressions of his work Manifest der kommunistischen Partei (Communist Manifesto) (1848) was written in the explicit hope of precipitating social revolution. And although Modern day Communism, widely attributed to him, is very different from his Marxism; the founders of modern day communism drew from his ideas so much so that he was disgusted at some of the debates on his insights into sociolism. Although Marx did not consider himself a sociologist, many sociologist consider his work, especially his work in the class stuggles and his introduction of one of the major perspectives in sociology, conflict theory, to have propelled him as one of the most significant early sociologist. Emile Durkheim is considered by many to be the father of sociology. He is credited with making sociology a science, and having made it part of the French academic curriculum. During his lifetime, Emile Durkheim gave many lectures, and published an impressive number of sociological studies, to prove his one of his greatest contributions to science, his view on social integration, on subjects such as religion, suicide, and all aspects of society. A hundred years after his genius his studies are still quoted and studied all over the world. Max Weber is best known as one of the leading scholars and founders of modern sociology and like Marx and Durkheim is one of the most influential of all sociologists. With his most famous economic work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905), Weber disagreed with Marx in that economics was the central force in social change. He believed that it was r ...