Magnetic Resonance Imaging Business

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Business 1. The Magnetic Resonance Imaging Business Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive medical imaging modality that has emerged in the first half of 1980s and become a preferred tool in detecting a wide range of diseases (Yildirim, et al., 2015)[1]. Since its invention, MRI has undergone a continuous flow of innovations and proven itself as a versatile tool that addresses an increasing number of clinical problems and enables research in a growing spectrum of clinical and technological fields. Over the course of its evolution MRI has proven itself has a well-established diagnostic tool and enabler in particularly neuro-radiological applications, functional and anatomical imaging of the brain, imaging of the musculoskeletal (MSK) system and the spine, and a strong contender in cardiovascular imaging, breast imaging and imaging of the abdomen and pelvic region. As a result of its versatility and non-invasive nature, MRI enjoys an increasing demand (Wilson, et al., 1999; Al-Kwifi McNaughton, 2013) and becomes a strong alternative to less costly modalities such as X-ray and Computed Tomography (Semelka, 2004). Despite all the innovations, and the advantages it offers with respect to other techniques, MRI remains the most expensive medical imaging modality, both in terms of production costs and cost of ownership constitutes a global market that is currently about à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 5 billion, and is expected to exceed à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 7 billion by 2021 (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). Figure 1 MRI, applications areas and competing technologies.   1.1. The Market Over the past three and a half decades, the MRI business has evolved into a nearly mature market, particularly in terms of number of installations and users, which mainly consist of academic hospitals and research institutes, public and private hospitals and specialized clinics and centres (Oh, et al., 2004; MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). The MRI market is dominated by three vendors, namely Siemens, General Electric (GE) and Philips, which cover about 75% of the market, and followed by smaller firms like Toshiba and Hitachi as well as relatively smaller firms and new entrants such as Fonar, Alltech and United Imaging (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). Geographically, the MRI market is dominated by North America and Europe, which happen to be the birthplaces of the modality (Lauterbur, 1973; Mansfield, 1977), with respective shares of 31% and 29% (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). These, so to speak, old regions are followed by a younger and dynamic region, Asia, which has a share of 25% and observes a demand that is rapidly increasing (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). The remainder of the MRI market is populated by emerging markets such as Latin America, the Middle East, the Pacific and Africa (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). Figure 2 Global MRI market (Adapted from MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). The industry is governed by fast technological change and substantial heterogeneity in terms of technology and implementation among vendors (Krieg, 2004; MarketsAndMarkets, 2015). While products can roughly be categorized into groups representing magnetic field strength expressed in Teslas (e.g. 1.0T, 1.5T, 3.0T) or architecture (e.g. open versus narrow-bore or wide-bore cylindrical) (MarketsAndMarkets, 2015), differentiation among products and vendors is dictated by features, clinical applications and research techniques that come integrated with a MRI system (Krieg, 2004; Al-Kwifi McNaughton, 2013). In recent years, the business has observed a significant development that manifested itself as a clear split in market segmentation, with premium (or high-end) products catering to the upper half of the market and value products (or low-end or low-cost) catering to the lower half (Donoghue, et al., 2012; Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015). This split, which was initially caused by the demand structure seen in the Asian and emerging markets, also found acceptance and support in Europe and North America, particularly in sectors where cost began to assume a primary role in purchase decisions as well as reimbursement policies (Proval, 2014; Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015). In older markets such as North America and Europe, and also in Japan, the business seems to have reached a certain level of maturity (AuntMinnie.com, 2013). In these regions, the market shows a declining growth rate, mostly as a result of substantial market saturation and negative environmental influences such as declining reimbursements resulting from more stringent policies implemented by governments and insurance companies (Proval, 2014; Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015). Another development that challenges the vendors is the increased number of brand switching, which, to some extent, can be related to market saturation (Al-Kwifi McNaughton, 2013). Customers moving from one vendor to another as such is observed to accelerate price erosion and hurt profitability significantly. In developing markets and markets showing a positive growth rate, like the emerging markets and Asian regions such as China and India (AuntMinnie.com, 2013), cost of investment and operation emerges as the primary factor affecting the business (Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015). Additionally, the business, particularly of the incumbent firms (i.e. the big five) is challenged by governmental policies that directly or indirectly favour local competition, particularly in the low-end segment (Torsekar, 2014; Rizzo, 2016; Business Standard, 2016). Access to a larger portion of these markets is blocked by either complicated bureaucratic procedures (Torsekar, 2014), elevated import taxes (Business Standard, 2016), or by directly backing local manufacturers by means of targeted subsidies or privileged contracts (credible source needed).      Ã‚   1.2. Product Innovation Historically, MRI has been a technology driven industry, and as it is typical for high-tech businesses, product innovation has been critical to market performance and central to sustainability of the business (Krieg, 2004; Paladino, 2006). Different than most high-tech industries, however, MRI has strongly benefitted from a co-creation culture where most innovations have emerged from interactions and partnerships between vendors and key, and mostly academic, users (Figure 3). This culture led to a symbiotic vendor-user relationship that resulted into a rapid pace of product innovation, which, in turn, boosted demand for more advanced and specialized products (Krieg, 2004). Figure 3 A history of co-creation in MRI (Adapted from Philips Healthcare, 2016) However, the rate of ground-breaking and truly differentiating innovations is facing a slowdown (Holloway, 2014). In the last 10 years very few breakthroughs led to a significant or long lasting technological and competitive advantage, or have opened new areas of application and research. In the fields where MRI has proven itself as a mature diagnostic apparatus, such as neurology, MSK and brain imaging, all major vendors products are known to deliver very similar performances and adequate quality as far as general purpose use is concerned. Only in case of very specific needs, a particular vendor is seen to differentiate itself from the others and gain advantage in winning a bid or public tender. This situation, which can be defined as technological equilibrium, and relatively long presence of the modality in old markets, with an average age of about 15 years in North America, is believed to propel brand-switching (Al-Kwifi McNaughton, 2013), and more importantly, to move the accent of product innovation away from revolutionary breakthroughs to more evolutionary changes that particularly improve ease of use, patient comfort and productivity (Global Industry Analysts Inc., 2015).   1.3. Established Marketing Strategies Almost every major MRI vendor is part of a multi-national conglomerate that is active in multiple areas of business. Therefore, the strategies followed by individual companies draw a lot from the business group they belong to, and show differences particularly in cultural background, brand positioning and messaging. Yet, over time the medical device business, and particularly MRI, has developed its own common ground and generally accepted and practiced traditions. The business commercial heart-beat is primarily set by the annual gathering of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), which is held towards the end of the year and known to be the stage for new product launches, and secondarily the annual meeting of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), which takes place in spring time and lays the emphasis more on scientific and technological advancements in the field. While aligning their annual activities with these two events, vendors seem to show little indifference in the marketing strategies they follow, resulting into an equilibrium state very much similar to that seen in product innovation. Even, marketing materials, such product brochures and whitepapers give the impression as if they originate out of same hands, aside from small nuances in messaging, branding and company culture[2]. Inferred from marketing materials and product pricing, target market definition is predominantly based on pricing, which is strongly correlated with hardware characteristics (e.g. field strength, gradient system, receiver architecture etc.) and applicatory capabilities (Figure 4). Figure 4 In practice, however, the market seems to be far from consisting of two segments clearly separated from each other, as such. In his empirical study investigating the effectiveness of marketing strategies in medical markets, Brian Smith (Smith, 2003) identified that the segments are divided into sub-segments based on varying behavioural and preferential characteristics of users. However, the study also established that, despite such variation, the market does not show a continuum of homogeneous and distinct motivator based sub-segments, as seen in most consumer businesses, but rather consists of a discrete segmentation with limited degrees of freedom, which most possibly arises from the rather rigid, dominant and costly hardware characteristics of the modality and the highly regulated nature of the business environment. Of course, the relatively low number of incumbents, and their close collaboration and interaction in determining the industry standards under the directive of the Inte rnational Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), also plays also a significant role in the setting and rigidity of the boundaries of the business. Despite the constraints inherent to the nature of the modality and business environment and financial boundaries set by the customers budgetary considerations, vendors seem to seek strategic strength and competitive advantage by recognizing behavioural and preferential differences and formulating value propositions that match the specific needs of the users (Smith, 2003). In MRI, this is mainly done by fine-tuning the product composition, particularly the applicatory capabilities, which, while being very dependent on the underlying hardware platform, are defined by the software capabilities, namely data-acquisition routines (a.k.a. pulse-sequences), image reconstruction algorithms, and post-processing tools. The value-proposition is further augmented with service and support, as well as more intangible offerings and benefits of secondary and tertiary importance, such as membership of strong user network, participation in advanced research activities etc. Such customization approaches , however, are mostly left to the discretion of the local marketing and sales teams, and observed to show strong variation depending not only on the needs of the customers, but also on the specific circumstances of the negotiation and/or bidding process and position with respect to competition. From general and global marketing activities perspective, the business seems to rely on downstream activities, which centralize around new product offerings in terms of new hardware platforms and configurations, and applications consisting of novel pulse-sequences, reconstruction algorithms and post-processing methods and focus mostly on the RSNA, and upstream activities, which involve input gathering from the customer base, particularly from the so called key opinion leaders (a.k.a. key users), research collaborations with a select number of sites as well as general user surveys, feedback from local marketing and sales teams, and competitive analysis of market changes. While downstream marketing and the show to be put on stage during the RSNA help the vendors catch the attention of the market, and, more importantly, the prospective customers, it is mostly the upstream activities, and the subsequent product definition and development process, that paves the way of success, and embodi es the governing dynamics the organization. 1.4. Governing business model While exact implementation may vary from one vendor to another, it is observed that the majority of the major players follow product definition and development processes that are quite similar in the general sense. According to this, input gathered from upstream activities are converted into a user requirement specification, which subsequently is translated into one or more product definitions, and evaluated as a combined or individual business cases, with market and sales projections based on feedback from local marketing and sales teams and competitive analysis. Based on the value offered by each case product proposals are accepted to the annual operations plan (AOP), and are programmed for feasibility studies, if any needed, and product development. Most vendors, divide their annual plan into two parts, first spanning the first half of the year and catering to the installed base in terms of service releases and product updates, and second spanning the second half of the year and f ocusing on the new product introductions intended for the RSNA. 1.5. Changes in the Market Historically, the target audience of medical devices in general, and MRI in particular, has been the medical practitioners (e.g. radiologists, specialists), administrators of medical institutions and clinics and research scientists from various medical and engineering. In the earlier years of the business, the composition of this audience was mostly dominated by researchers and medical professionals with strong understanding of the physics and engineering of MRI, and driven by the desire of exploring new fields of research and application disciplines (van den Brink, et al., 2015). However, as the modality matured, the market evolved into a state where the focus shifted more to utilizing MRI as a robust and reliable diagnostic tool, than just a research platform (Holloway, 2014). Paired with this change, the proportion and influence of the medical professionals, including administrators, started to exceed those of researchers and scientists disciplines (van den Brink, et al., 2015). Over the years, and driven by increase in demand for clinical MR scans, the business also saw the entrance and influence of a new type of user, namely the operator, also known as the technologist or radiographer. In time, in the clinical, as well as in a considerable portion of the research settings, the day-to-day of operation of the systems were seen to be taken over from highly knowledgeable medical professionals, engineers and scientists, by operators whose sole responsibility was to operate the MRs disciplines (van den Brink, et al., 2015). Hence, as a combined result of these changes, the practical knowledge of utilizing MR in a clinical setting increased, together with the demand for clinical MR scans, and number of MR installations, and the average knowledge of MR physics and engineering of the people sitting on the operators chair declined (Yildirim, et al., 2015). This, together with the demand for higher productivity (i.e. higher number of scans per day) and desire for shorter training investments brought new factors into the equation of product formulation, namely, workflow and usability (Holloway, 2014; Duszak, 2012). Aware of the increasing importance of workflow and usability, the vendors have implemented marketing strategies that emphasize the productivity and efficiency of their existing products, in addition to the technical capabilities. At the same time, vendors introduced product changes that focus on higher patient throughput, simplified patient handling, improved usability of the MR console etc. As a consequence of these changes the jargon governing product and marketing materials slowly shifted from a technically savvy language to a softer language expressing customer excellence, efficient workflow, easy scanning. In addition to the changes in market demographics and demand structure, which mostly arose from the internal dynamics of the market, the MR business is also observed to be influenced by external changes, particularly advancements in mobile communications, information technologies (IT), the internet and social media. As mentioned before, the MR business is based on a strong co-creation culture and close interaction between customers and vendors. As an integral part of this culture, there is strong empathy among MR users for the complexity of the technology and challenges vendors face during product development and manufacturing. However, the empathy of MR users may not last very long. In a recent survey conducted among MR users (Yildirim, et al., 2015), it was observed that the MR user becomes less tolerant to lengthy product service update cycles and new product introduction cycles that are measured in months to years. There is a significant lack of empirical studies addressing this change. However, this behavioural change believed to be an extension of the observed impact of technological advancements on consumer behaviour, particularly in e-commerce, online services, IT and telecommunications products. Studies conducted in these businesses have shown that the consumers have become more and mor e accustomed to high responsiveness from companies in acquiring goods and services, as well as prompt feedback in case of inquiries and complaints.   2. Purpose of work 2.1. Problem Statement In light of the changes and trends observed in the market, as well as the level of maturity reached in about 65% of the global market, the number of challenges the MR business is facing, and will likely continue to face in the foreseeable future can be summarized as follows: High costs associated with high-end scanners Increasing demand for low-end scanners Slowdown in ground-breaking innovations Homogenization of technology Brand-switching in mature markets Changing market demographics and declining technical proficiency of users Shifting of demand from novel applications to clinical utilization and efficiency Weakening of co-creating culture and increasing impatience of users On global scale the MR market is far from stagnation. However, challenges above make maintaining market share and gaining new grounds a difficult task. Some of these problems, particularly those related to high costs of innovation, manufacturing and ownership, are not new to the industry. But problems arising from the changes in the market, particularly those related to the maturation of the market, changes in user profile and behaviour and demand structure are new. Strategies based on technological innovations, while being helpful in preserving brand image and presence in high-end segment, will not suffice to address these issues and sustain competitive advantage and profitability. In order to stay afloat, the business, and particularly an incumbent, will need to explore new strategies and solutions to deal with the emerging problems. This work, aims at contributing to such an exploration by addressing the following problem statement: How can the MR business, particularly an incumbent, overcome the challenges arising from market changes, without resorting to costly technological innovations? Obviously, such a statement is very broad and may require a comprehensive solution, also including product innovations, and probably a total overhaul of the business strategy. But in respect to imitations inherent to a dissertation, the scope of the work presented will mostly focus on solutions that will address changes in demand structure and user profile.   2.2. Proposed Solution Reducing manufacturing costs and cost of ownership, improving robustness and usability and introducing products that meet the needs of the low-end segment will require solutions that greatly rely on innovations in product design and manufacturing. However, these issues, and specifically issues related to changes in demand structure, demographic composition, focus of utilization as well as competitive elements involving homogenization and brand-switching can also be addressed by innovations in organizational and operational approach to the business. Today MR vendors seem to focus too much on the future in terms of the next novel technology and new markets or users to be conquered. The business process is almost sole based on this focus. Next to being future oriented the business may also find benefit in focusing on the past, or more accurately, the existing installed base. This idea, encouraged largely by the level of maturity of the market, entails learning from collective experience of users, and on the larger scale, from the collective experience of the whole MRI world, and formulate product improvement, marketing and sales strategies based on this learning. Learning as such can be realized in many ways and, in fact, is not new to the MR business. Vendors, collect information from their customers through regular and structured surveys, or occasional direct contact by marketing and sales teams. Also annual events, like RSNA and ISMRM, form a viable platform for information and feedback gathering. Next to these, firms also collect information and receive feedback from third party sources like Net Promotor Score surveys and market research reports, which also contribute to the business intelligence activities of the companies. In addition to such business and market oriented feedback gathering, vendors also receive feedback from another type of source: customer complaints. A customer complaint, as the name implies, is an expression of dissatisfaction (Landon, 1980), and is a formal and regulated entity in MRI in particular, and medical imaging in general. Customer complaints, may entail actual product defects, that is, unintended behaviour or malfunction of the product or a component thereof, or annoyances that arise from the intended behaviour or design of the product. Regardless the reason, customer complaints are issued using formal tools, and monitored by regulating bodies with strict rules regarding handling and processing (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2015). While in general, a low number of customer complaints, is very much desirable, feedback as such is an invaluable opportunity for vendors to learn from their mistakes.   Sources mentioned so far, while all beneficial, have one character in common. They are, in one form another, expressions of explicit feedback, which is known to mostly capture the part that is immediately visible, and therefore is prone to being incomplete or insufficient in uncovering actual user experience and value (Vargo, et al., 2007; MacDonald, et al., 2011). As a complementary source, this work proposes the utilization of implicit feedback, which is tacit in nature and captured in various forms of data generated by the user, or more accurately, the use of MR systems. The data consists of so called machine-data, which are mostly log files that are generated by the MR systems automatically, as well as human-data, such as clinical protocols that are created by users and reflect preferred ways of system use, and scientific output in the form of publications and conference contributions, particularly generated by academic users. Currently there are about 35 to 40 thousand operational MRI systems, with a yearly expansion of 2500-3000 systems. That means that, currently, a major incumbent would have had about 10 thousand operational systems, and over the past 10 years about 7500-8000 in average. Considering has been producing at least one log file per day, the minimum number of log files estimated to have been accumulated would be about 30 million. Assuming that each file is of 100 MB ins size, such a collection will yield 3000TB of data, large enough to fill more than half a million DVDs. Adding, protocols, publications and other sources to this, the data will multiply massively in size reaching the zettabyte scale (Raghupathi Raghupathi, 2014). In information science, datasets of such size and complexity are defined by the term Big Data (Russom, 2011; Singh Singh, 2011; Madden, 2012) whereas the processes and techniques used to structure and analyse such complex data and retrieve meaningful information out of it are brought together under the term Data Analytics (Russom, 2011; Singh Singh, 2011).   Ã‚   The proposed solution relies heavily on Big Data and Data Analytics, or shortly Big Data Analytics. But rather than being an exercise of solely academic nature, the work aims at defining a framework that integrates Big Data Analytics into the operational and organizational structure of an incumbent MR vendor. The work also includes practical examples of how to utilize Big Data Analytics in identification of implicit and hidden user needs, product formulation as well as, and particularly, in marketing and sales and create value for both the company and customers. 3. Big Data Analytics Big Data is a term used for massively large data sets with complex and heterogeneous structure that cannot be handled, i.e. stored and analyzed, using conventional techniques (Russom, 2011; Singh Singh, 2011; Madden, 2012). Data Analytics, on the other hand, is a collection of techniques and procedures that are used to process and analyze massive amounts of data. Brought together under the name Big Data Analytics, the purpose of this toolset is to identify hidden correlations and patterns in data, and convert a seemingly unordered pile of data into meaningful information and insights (Russom, 2011; Singh Singh, 2011). Although the concept of Big Data has emerged no longer than a decade ago, the use of data analytics in business practices is not a new idea. In 1950s businesses were analyzing information captured in electronic spreadsheets manually in order to uncover and understand trends and changes in data (Handfield, 2013). With the advances in of computer technology, the spreadsheets have been evolved into large electronic databases and later into data-warehouses, whereas the labor intensive manual processing practices made room for computer programs capable of running complex algorithms in an automated and efficient manner. In time and with technological advances particularly in computing and communications, the number of events and amount of information worth recording increased dramatically, and with decreasing cost of electronic storage, so did the record keeping. It is even said that, more than 90% of what is described as Big Data, has been created in the past few years (Dragland, 2013), and has the potential to transform business, provided that it is processed and consumed properly (LaValle, et al., 2011). Nevertheless, handling Big Data, and converting it into meaningful and actionable insights is not a trivial task. In their field work, LaValle et al. (2011), identified that there are three levels of capabilities, or stages, in which organizations go through on their Big Data Analytics journey: aspirational, experienced and transformed. Organizations in aspirational stage are described to be furthest of achieving the analytical targets they set, and lacking some of the essential requirements such as expertise and tools. Organizations that are described to be experienced, are those have managed to lay down a basis that enable better ways to collect data, conduct analytics and act upon insights. These organizations, also look to go beyond the immediate benefits of Big Data Analytics, which is typically in cost management, and create value in other domains as well. It is however the transformed organizations that make most of Big Data Analytics. Transformed organizations are those that have passed the stage of acquiring expertise, implementing tools and exploring new uses of Big Data Analytics beyond cost management. Instead, they are deemed to be proficient in data driven resource management and optimization of tools and processes and they use Big Data Analytics to create competitive advantage (LaValle, et al., 2011). 3.1. The Five Vs of Big Data Analytics In order to progress from the aspirational stage towards the transformed stage, a business first needs to develop a solid understanding of Big Data and what makes it big and challenging to deal with. Technically, Big Data is characterized by a set of attributes, which are called the Vs of Big Data: Variety, Velocity and Volume (Laney, 2001). As the name implies, Volume represents the amount of data, whereas Variety represents the heterogeneous composition of data sources and data originating thereof. It is particularly Volume and Variety that make Big Data really big and complex (Laney, 2001; Qureshi Gupta, 2014). Velocity, on the other hand covers the flux of data inflow, as well as the rate of change. Velocity also has implications regarding the speed of processing and analysis of data, and is a source of a different type of challenge that manifests itself in constraints and complexities in operational implementation and execution (Qureshi Gupta, 2014). Beyond the basis laid down by Laney (2001), recent studies in the field have extended the Vs of Big Data further by adding Veracity (Morgan, 2012) and Value (Qureshi Gupta, 2014). Veracity mainly deals with the quality and reliability of data. Expectedly, and particularly considering the high volume and velocity, Big Data is far from being 100% correct and usable. Nonetheless, it has to be valid and of good quality at a certain level to be useful. Without Veracity inte

The company I have chosen to design database software for is called :: Computer Science

The company I have chosen to design database software for is called Multi-installations. They are a private limited company that specializes in the manufacture and installation of high tech security doors and screens. 1.1 Introduction The company I have chosen to design database software for is called Multi-installations. They are a private limited company that specializes in the manufacture and installation of high tech security doors and screens. They do many mail shots per month and send up to four brochures to any company/client within a specified department. The company have often made mistakes as to when they do a mail shot many companies receive the same brochure twice or receive a brochure that they do not require. 1.2 Investigation At the moment there is not a current computer based system in place. Although every time a mail shot is done the company logs this manually in a book and record what brochure was sent to which company. The current problem is that every time a mail shot is done someone must look through the books previous records to see if a particular brochure has been sent to that particular company. This is proving to be a long method as often the person checking the book misses out a company that has already been sent that particular brochure, and this results in the company loosing out as more brochure are used up, and the company receiving the brochure will simply be annoyed with the amount of brochure s receives from Multi-installations and simply throws them away. I asked the company the following questions: 1. What sort of manual system is there in place at the moment? 2. How is the data recorded when a new company needs to be sent a brochure? 3. How is the data stored and can it be accessed easily? 4. Is there a backup copy of your manual system? 5. What problems are you having with the current system? 6. What functions would you like the new database to perform? 7. Will the information in the database need to be protected that only specific people have access to it? 8. Do you think the new computerised system will save time and money? The main problem with the current manual system is that every time a new company is sent a brochure it must be logged in a book. This book contains lists of companies that have already been sent that specific brochure. The current user must look through all the lists to see if that company has been sent that specific brochure. 1.3 Requirements of the New System

How has the ?American Dream? been translated into popular film? Refer :: essays research papers fc

The American Dream is an often mentioned and well-known term used to describe the ideology of the United States of America. Despite the common usage of the term it is not always completely understood and so requires, at least, a brief introduction and definition. P Mueller in his writing Star Trek and the American Dream claims that â€Å"†¦to some the American dream is just "from rags to riches", to others it includes the realisation of high flying ideals as old as mankind itself.† Mueller then goes onto say that the term was coined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams and identifies three main roots: mythical aspects (leading back to the ancient dream of a perfect society and as paradise even before the continent was discovered), religious aspects (which Mueller describes as dealing with the puritan vision of a city upon a hill) and political aspects (arising from the declaration of independence and the constitution). It would seem that the most important of these th ree themes is arguably that of the political nature and various commentators have defined the American Dream in this way. Martin Luther King claimed â€Å"It [the American Dream] is found in those majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, words lifted to cosmic proportions: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by God, Creator, with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." This is a dream. It’s a great dream.† Jim Bickford concurred with this view within his writing The American Dream: Our Heritage of Hope (in which he goes onto to identify several examples of the American Dream in practice throughout history) when he claimed â€Å"America was built on dreams† and went onto to discuss the importance of the declaration of independence in creating the dream by stating â€Å"Our ancestors chose to take the risk by putting their lives o n the line and fighting for freedom† . In respect to the medium of film it comes as no surprise that the American Dream has filtered itself, both consciously and unconsciously, directly and indirectly, onto the screen. America, and in particular Hollywood, is the dominant producer of film within the world today. Where Hollywood leads other filmmaking nations follow. The American Dream is largely presented within film in the sense of the political context: life, liberty and (in particular) the pursuit of Happiness but there is no uniform depiction of this.

Disney: To be a Young Woman Essay -- disney princess, unrealistic beau

To be a Young Woman (according to Disney) Since Disney first introduced Snow White from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves back in 1937, the definition of what it means to be a young woman has been hugely influenced by Walt Disney Studios princesses. From the hair and the dresses to the demeanor and poise, Disney princesses have been showing girls of all ages how a woman should look and act, if she wants to have a happy life and find the perfect husband. Being constantly fed the seemingly ‘ideal’ image of beauty since their youth; most girls feel a need to strive to that level of beauty in order for them to feel accepted in society, and confident in themselves. According to researcher Dawn England, â€Å"The princesses in the first three Disney Princess movies were frequently affectionate, helpful, troublesome, fearful, tentative, and described as pretty† (England).Focusing in on the three original Disney princesses, Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, according to those thre e princesses what it means to be a young woman is to have unrealistic physical beauty, be dependent on a man, and be submissive and obedient. The Disney princesses’ unrealistic level of beauty can be seen in the artist portrayal of each princess. In the article, "The Mixed Blessings Of Disney's Classic Fairy Tales" Asma Ayob talks about how the princesses’ are created, â€Å"Snow White and Cinderella are presented as beautiful archetypal princesses who are ideally perfect. With the advent of the ï ¬ lm, and the animators’ ability to create ï ¬â€šawless bodies, this type of female attractiveness, which can be compared to â€Å"air-brushing† models on the covers of popular magazines, is a hard act to follow† (Ayob). The ‘hard act to follow’, has been t... ...llier-Meek. "Gender Role Portrayal And The Disney Princesses." Sex Roles 64.7/8 (2011): 555-567. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014. "Marry The Prince Or Stay With Family—That Is The Question: A Perspective Of Young Korean Immigrant Girls On Disney Marriages In The United States." Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood 34.2 (2009): 39-46. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014. Rozario, Rebecca-Anne C. Do. "The Princess And The Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, The Function Of The Disney Princess." Women's Studies In Communication 27.1 (2004): 34-59. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 28 Apr. 2014. Whelan, Bridget1. "Power To The Princess: Disney And The Creation Of The 20Th Century Princess Narrative." Interdisciplinary Humanities 29.1 (2012): 21-34. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014. Disney: To be a Young Woman Essay -- disney princess, unrealistic beau To be a Young Woman (according to Disney) Since Disney first introduced Snow White from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves back in 1937, the definition of what it means to be a young woman has been hugely influenced by Walt Disney Studios princesses. From the hair and the dresses to the demeanor and poise, Disney princesses have been showing girls of all ages how a woman should look and act, if she wants to have a happy life and find the perfect husband. Being constantly fed the seemingly ‘ideal’ image of beauty since their youth; most girls feel a need to strive to that level of beauty in order for them to feel accepted in society, and confident in themselves. According to researcher Dawn England, â€Å"The princesses in the first three Disney Princess movies were frequently affectionate, helpful, troublesome, fearful, tentative, and described as pretty† (England).Focusing in on the three original Disney princesses, Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, according to those thre e princesses what it means to be a young woman is to have unrealistic physical beauty, be dependent on a man, and be submissive and obedient. The Disney princesses’ unrealistic level of beauty can be seen in the artist portrayal of each princess. In the article, "The Mixed Blessings Of Disney's Classic Fairy Tales" Asma Ayob talks about how the princesses’ are created, â€Å"Snow White and Cinderella are presented as beautiful archetypal princesses who are ideally perfect. With the advent of the ï ¬ lm, and the animators’ ability to create ï ¬â€šawless bodies, this type of female attractiveness, which can be compared to â€Å"air-brushing† models on the covers of popular magazines, is a hard act to follow† (Ayob). The ‘hard act to follow’, has been t... ...llier-Meek. "Gender Role Portrayal And The Disney Princesses." Sex Roles 64.7/8 (2011): 555-567. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014. "Marry The Prince Or Stay With Family—That Is The Question: A Perspective Of Young Korean Immigrant Girls On Disney Marriages In The United States." Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood 34.2 (2009): 39-46. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014. Rozario, Rebecca-Anne C. Do. "The Princess And The Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, The Function Of The Disney Princess." Women's Studies In Communication 27.1 (2004): 34-59. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 28 Apr. 2014. Whelan, Bridget1. "Power To The Princess: Disney And The Creation Of The 20Th Century Princess Narrative." Interdisciplinary Humanities 29.1 (2012): 21-34. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Black Rain Essay -- Japan WWI Hiroshima Bombing Atomic Essays

Black Rain   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The novel, Black Rain, is a first hand recall of the events of a man’s life during the bombing of Hiroshima. The main character, Shigematsu Shizuma, is concerned that his niece, Yasuko, will be unable to marry because prospective husbands are scared off due to the fact that she was near the bombing and that her or her children will suffer the effects of this radiation sickness that had already affected so many. In his quest to find a husband for his niece he decides to rewrite his journal of the bombing of Hiroshima. It is his copying of this journal that takes the reader though the treacherous events of the bombing and the effects on his and others’ lives. Mr. Shizuma writes of every detail of the bombing. He describes the bombs blinding white light and the mushroom cloud that followed and he also describes the people. He tells of the strange burns on people’s bodies. He tells of family’s journey back into the city of Hiroshima to try to find lost loved ones. And he tells of the survivors’ struggles as well, from the radiation sickness to the small rations of rice and beans distributed to the people. He also seems very inquisitive about what kind of bomb fell on the city. The journal ends with the surrender of Japan and the book ends with his niece becoming very ill with the radiation sickness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This novel is like many other Japanese stories in that it is not a very happy book. There is no happy ending and the novel is filled with many gruesome de...

All Is Well in the Land of the King

All is Well in Land of â€Å"The Lion King† In the article, All’s Not Well in Land of â€Å"The Lion King,† by Margaret Lazarus, the author over exaggerates an animated classic, investigating as to whether or not the movie is politically correct and morally right. The essay examines and stereotypes the movie, and comes to various misguided conclusions. Lazarus defines the hyenas and the lion, Scar symbolic, and declares that Disney already has gays and blacks ruining the â€Å"natural order. She also draws to the conclusion that Disney manipulates small children’s minds; encouraging them to believe that â€Å"Only those born into privilege can bring about change† (pg. 440) Lazarus is constantly searching for the underlying meaning throughout the movie, and fails to enjoy it. After a complete analysis of the movie she fails to understand the central idea of the movie. She then proceeds to mock the concept of a young heir to the crown to fighting and standing up for what is rightfully and morally his. She maintains that the movie â€Å"The Lion King† is a metaphor for our society, suggesting that the nation only supports the concept that only the strong do survive in the world. So often a carefree animated tale is scrutinized and psychoanalyzed, and the pureness and innocence are stripped away from it. I fully disagree with Lazarus. â€Å"The Lion King,† was a wonderful, original animation that, broke the Disney stereotyped classics, of a hero that saves a beautiful girl in distress. â€Å"The Lion King,† features a story of doing the right thing, learning to fight for what is right, to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. The Lion King,† is an animation, to over analyze in such a fashion as Margaret Lazarus does, is ridiculous and a shame. Lazarus is seeking too much meaning out of this simple tale. The cartoons main purpose is to entertain, not to set all the things wrong in the world right. It is impossible and absurd to suggest that young c hildren’s minds are being corrupted by Disney movies. â€Å"The Lion King† is a cartoon. Children cannot understand the underlying meanings of gays and blacks, they just want to laugh and enjoy themselves.

I am Filipino Essay

Every race around the world has different culture and beliefs and in that difference sometimes they even fight because of that contrast. One of the races known around the world is the Filipino. The Filipino people (Filipino: Mamamayang Pilipino) or Filipinos are an ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. According to the 2010 Census, there were 92,337,852 in the Philippines and about 10-12 million living outside the Philippines. There are around 180 languages spoken in the Philippines, most of them belonging to the Austronesian language family, with Tagalog and Cebuano having the greatest number of native speakers. The official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and English and most Filipinos are bilingual or trilingual. The Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 300 years, leaving what can now be called Filipino culture and people semi-Hispanicized. Under Spanish rule, most of the Filipino populace embraced Roman Catholicism, yet revolted many times to its hierarchy. Due to a colonial program, almost all inhabitants adopted Spanish surnames from the Catalogo alfabetico de apellidos published in 1849 by the Spanish colonial government. As neither past governments nor the modern National Statistics Office account for the racial background of an individual, the exact percentage of Filipinos with Spanish ancestry is unknown. What is being a Pinoy all about–aside from pointing with our lips and having an action star for our President? It’s our character. Filipinos are carry many qualities which set them apart as people. One of that characteristic is the strong belief of the Supreme Being or also known as Faith of God. Filipino may have different religions in different sectors of our country, but what is consistent is that we have one strong form of faith in the Supreme Being. Supreme being also known as God/Diyos for Christians or in Islamic as Allah, sometimes called as Bathala, Kabunian, Ginoo, and others. We Filipino are also known as respectful because of the great respect for our elders. Other countries call their elders by their name but here in Philippnes we used Kuya, Ate, Lola, Lolo, Tito, Tita, Mama, Papa and more. From the â€Å"mano† to saying â€Å"po† and â€Å"opo† to our elders, these words that are part of our language show how we respect people. In our culture we always respect and follow what our parents and adults advise us to do. Not talking back, and trusting the adults around us has always been a part of who we are. One of the examples of the respect is following the beliefs by our elderly. Traditional Pilipino values have clearly influenced beliefs and practices pertaining to child rearing, medical care, disability, and death and dying. Each of these areas is detailed in the following sections with respect to more traditional views. Formal studies of Pilipino child-rearing beliefs and practices have shown considerable consistency in their findings (Church, 1986). Moreover, the specific socialization patterns and training for desirable childhood traits and behaviors (particularly during infancy/toddlerhood and early childhood) are highly consistent with other Asian cultural groups. However, Pilipino child-rearing beliefs and practices are reinforced within a traditional family structure and 1 extended family system with characteristic similarities and differences relative to other Asian cultures. Filipinos are also having close family ties. We enjoy having and knowing family members are around us. From cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, some family’s share their homes celebrate holidays and lends a hand to a relative in times of need. The complete centrality of family life and the importance of family loyalty, obligation, and interdependence are previously described. These values are supported by a family structure and kinship ties that reflect the multicultural Pilipino heritage. Having withstood Hispanic Catholic influence, the ancient Malay tradition of equality between men and women translates into a bilateral extended kinship system. Both the mother’s and father’s lineages are of equal importance. Thus, for example, names may be inherited through the male line or both the father’s and mother’s family name; it is not unusual for the mother’s maiden name to be given as a child’s middle name. Inheritance patterns further call for equal division between daughters and sons (Aquino, 1981; UPAC, 1980). The Filipinos are a helpful people. They live the members of their family, their relatives, neighbors, friends and even strangers. If the family is poor, the members help one another and the elders sacrifice for the education of the younger ones. The bayanihan spirit makes it possible for the people to build houses, move houses, plant crops, harvest crops, build roads and other things with little expense. The people of the community help one another in doing this. Bayanihan is also an occasion for fun because it brings the people of the community together. It means getting together or helping one another in a common project or work. Many hands make light work is the idea behind the bayanihan. When we have people visit our homes, we always welcome them with smiles, conversations, and foods. This is one of the most popular qualities of Filipinos. Foreigners who have gone to the Philippines find themselves falling in love for their hospitality. It’s a different kind of values which already existed thousands of years ago. Examples of hospitality that they show not only to foreign but also to their fellow citizens. This is observed when one person has nothing and they tend to share what they have to them. When one visits a friend’s house, they greet them with a very warm welcome. They let their visitor sit down and prepare them a meal or a snack plus drinks for them. They may not want you leave the house with an empty stomach. They make sure you had a great time visiting them. They offer their guest room to their visitors if they’re going to spend the night with them. Meals offered are very special, if not, they make a way to prepare great tasting food that their visitor wanted to eat. Majority of our livelihood in the Philippines is based on agriculture. It takes a lot of back-breaking work to plant the fields. Them it takes patience to care, water and to harvest. We Filipinos are hardworking people to the fact that they are willing to work several time to almost whole day just to feed their families. That’s how Filipinos are. One example of a hardworking person is a farmer, they earn so little but still they tend to work very hard for few bucks. Filipinos always find ways to earn for a living like putting. 2 up a small business from their home wherein they sell foods or other items for the convenient of their neighbors as well. . During the times we don’t have means to accomplish something, we find ingenious ways f using what we have to solve our problems that’s why we are also known as resourceful and creative. And because we’ve been through a lot of trials in our history, Filipinos have learned not to be depress. Rather, we find jokes and have fun even during our difficulty. An Asiawide (minus Japan) consumer survey has found that Filipinos and Thais are the happiest in the region while people of Hongkong worry about their jobs, the economy and their waistlines. The survey was conducted before the outbreak of SARS in China and elsewhere. The survey report, made by the advertising group TBWA Hongkong, was based on focus groups and five major surveys over three years in seven Asian locations. There were more that 15,000 respondents with a bias towards those aged 25 to 35 who were thought to lead the culture in Asia. The report, titled â€Å"marketing Premium Brands in Asia†, said Hong Kong people scored minus 27 on the researchers’ happiness index, compared to minus six in Taiwan, minus two on the mainland, plus six in Singapore, 10 in Malaysia , 11 in Thailand and 12 in the Philippines. The index compared the number of people who classified themselves as â€Å"very happy or â€Å"happy† against those who said they were â€Å"unhappy† or â€Å"very unhappy†. Those who said they were â€Å"okay† were excluded. Filipinos were not only the happiest among those surveyed, but were also the least body-conscious. Only 18 percent regarded themselves as overweight compared with 47 percent of Hongkongers saying they were â€Å"too fat† or â€Å"a bit fat†. We also don’t like to waste anything since we don’t have a lot. We are careful of what we have, knowing that it will serve as for a long period time which also make us Filipinos thrifty and frugal. The Filipinos held their womenfolk in high regard. The women where highly respected. When walking together, men walked behind them. They were accorded equal rights to men by their customary laws, like they could own and inherit properties. They could also engage in trade and industry. The alone enjoyed the privilege of giving names to their children. When there was no male successor to become chief of barangay, a woman could become one. Filipinos are the sweetest and loving people in the world. I don’t know why, I’m not saying this because Im a Filipino but dude, you’ve got to know them well. Men are so sweet and romantic when it comes to love, they will send you flowers, bring you to a very romantic place, they text you sweet quotes and often tell you how special you are to them. Filipino women are also romantic and very caring, that makes foreigners want to marry a kind like them. Women tend to prepare dinner before their husband comes home. They are so loving that they value the relationship which make them so faithful to their husband. And they will love you for the fullest.