The Boollywood Actor Shah Rukh Khan Film Studies Essay

The Boollywood Actor Shah Rukh Khan Film Studies Essay Success of My Name Is Khan: My Name Is Khan was not only big hit in India but also proved to be biggest bollywood opening in many foreign countries. Movie showed biggest Shah Rukh opening in India as well as in biggest weekend opening in United Kingdom and United States of America. Movie was directed by director and friend of Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar and actress in lead role was Kajol. Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol have given many big hits movies to bollywood which earned in country as well as in foreign countries. Such heroics were not on Shah Rukhs mind when he started preparing for the role of Rizvan, a character who turns into a Forrest Gumpian folk hero while journeying across the States and attempts to make America see the errors of stereotyping Islam. Rizvans journey takes him from the 30,000-strong town of Banville in California to the 204-strong village of Wilhelmina in Georgia. For the character of Rizwan Khan, Shah Rukh Khan prepared himself by reading the various books, wat ching documentaries and he also met two youngsters who were suffering from Aspergers Syndrome and recorded himself in the character and watching himself on screen in his bathroom-cum-video projection room, and even followed a man with the disorder around San Francisco for two days. He learned well and there was no stardom in role and it was a role of simple guy who have even trouble in looking people in the eye. His character was much alike a penguin and it was completely different from his previous movie he has ever done in his career. The character he played, Rizvan Khan was a cosmetics-salesman-cum-repairman who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome and his life changes dramatically after 9/11 attack. He proved himself once again with playing such a character that he is really King Khan of Bollywood. His movie My Name Is Khan was a big success worldwide because of the role he played so well. on nationalism: Shah Rukh Khan has always got the pride in the secular nation as well as a good Muslim. Shah Rukh Khan follows his religion with cosmopolitan ease but it is certainly one of the reasons that he is embraced so warmly in the Middle East, Indonesia and Malaysia. Comment which Shah Rukh Khan had made taking side of Pakistani player that should have been selected for the Indian Premier League made big issue and it was not easy for him to tackle with it. He was out of the city with his wife Gauri Khan during the first protest in the Mumbai while his mother in law was at home with his children and also his sister was at home so he was very worried about them and got too emotional. Saamna editorial asked him to go to Karachi and Islamabad to play cricket with the Pakistanis to Uddhav Thackeray comparing him to Ajmal Kasab when he said, Kasab and Shah Rukh are the most secure people in Mumbai. Shah Rukh Khan did not bend his knees in front of Shiv Sena and country accepted him by making his movie a big hit of the year. Karan Johar was happy with the fact Shah Rukh Khan tackled the conditions which was a heroic act taken by him in real life standing against people who were trying to prove him wrong while he had not done anything wrong. About Shah Rukh Khan: Shah Rukh Khan is star icon of bollywood and the richest as well. He is the star in todays date who can make a movie success only because with his name. He is having maximum millions of the fans across the world. He had started his film debut with movie Deewana in year 1992 and after that he never looked behind and emerged a big star with his movies earning good profits. He had started his career on television with serials in late 1980s. He is not only popular among Indian audience but his movies also earn a good amount in foreign countries as well. Shah Rukh Khan is at age of 44 now and working in bollywood from about last two decades. He has won thirteen film fare awards for his quality work in Indian movies out of which seven are in the best actor category which shows his quality of acting. Some of his movies are biggest hits of bollywood like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Chak De India, Om Shanti Om and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi while some of t he movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Veer-Zaara and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna have been top-grossing Indian productions abroad which made him most successful actor of India. He started film production and television presentation in year 2000. He is founder and owner of two production companies Dreamz Unlimited and Red Chillies Entertainment which are continuously active in various entertainment activities. Other than acting he has produced many movies as well like Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Asoka, Chalte Chalte, Main Hoon Na, Kaal, Paheli, Om Shanti Om, Billu and currently producing Ra. 1. He is also a playback singer as he has sung song in various movies. His journey is still continues as bollywoods most successful star and he is still aiming to go much far in his career. He is real star icon and his name is Khan.

American Beauty (1999) Summary and Analysis

American Beauty (1999) Summary and Analysis American Beauty tells the story of one mans search for happiness. The film introduces the audience to Lester Burnham, an ordinary- looking married man and father in his forties. Lester is in a loveless marriage. Lesters wife, Carolyn, is so wrapped-up in her real estate career that Lester often claims that Carolyn doesnt even acknowledge him. Furthermore, Lesters daughter, Jane, is completely distant, often claiming how pathetic she thinks her father is. Moreover, Lester has dedicated fourteen years to his occupation, and suddenly, he is in danger of losing his job due to downsizing. All of these factors dramatically effect Lester and culminate into feelings of desperation and vulnerability for him. Lester is therefore in search of an escape and a rebirth. He is seeking the slightest possibility of happiness. Throughout the story Lester is consistently reminiscing on his past; wishing he could have it back. In the beginning portions of the story, Lester, as the narrator, states that it is never too late to regain your past. The catalyst to this frame of thought is Janes friend, Angela. Lester feels excited by the thought that a teen-age girl thinks he is hot. Lester overhears Angela state that she would have sex with him if Lester would start working-out and build-up his body. This drives Lester to change himself completely. Lester, in desperate search of happiness , finds an escape in Angela. Much like a hormone-driven teenage boy, Lester thinks that if he can score with a bombshell like Angela, then he will be reborn. Lesters mission for happiness and escape is further perpetuated by his eighteen year old neighbor, Ricky. In Ricky, Lester sees his model for rebirth. Lester calls Ricky his hero and is in awe of Rickys confidence. Lester, then begins a transformation back to his stereotypical understanding of what a teenager is. Lester begins to work-out, smoke pot, and drink beer. Much like a teen, he rebels against responsibility by quitting his job and; therefore, bypassing his duties as a provider to his daughter and wife. Furthermore, Lester spontaneously, trades in his Mercedes automobile for a 1970s cherry-red Trans Am sports car. In addition, Lester pursues a job with the least amount of responsibility. He finds that job in a fast food restaurant. All of these actions are deemed necessary to Lester because this is the way to escape and thus achieving happiness. The first scene where the audience is introduced to Lesters transformation process is when he first spots Angela. Lester and Carolyn decided to come and support Jane at a school basketball game where she is to perform a dance at half-time. This scene is significant because it shows how Angelas sexuality motivated Lester to rebel against who he is. Furthermore, this scene exemplifies Lesters characteristics as a hormone-crazed male in search of sex. This frame of thought is associated more with teens than with men in their forties. The first two technical elements used to exemplify this scene are composition and camera movement. The scene begins with Lester and Carolyn already in the stands with the crowd. Angela, Jane, and the other cheerleaders enter the picture with right to left movement assisted by a panning camera shot of right to left. This foreshadows the unordinary actions that are about to occur. Almost immediately, into the dance routine, Angela is given an upward position in the frame elevated with dynamic composition. It is dynamic composition because there is movement (Angela dancing) within a fixed frame. By giving Angela an upward position within the frame this suggest Lester is first noticing her. As the scene continues, and Angela has Lesters full attention, Angela is shown moving towards the camera in another dynamic composition shot complemented by the camera zooming in on her. This gives the audience an idea as to the degree of attention that Lester is giving to Angela due to her sexuality. It also enhances her presence. The scene continues with a static composition shot of Lester. It is static composition because there is no movement within the frame. The camera then begins to zoom in on Lester. As the camera zooms, the crowd is eliminated and only Lester is shown in the frame. Furthermore, the camera focuses on Lesters eyes and makes them appear bigger than they actually are. This makes Lester look like an animal drooling at the mouth over something he desires. At this point, the camera performs a point of view shot showing what Lesters eyes are fixated on, and focuses on Angela. This, once again, displays the degree of enchantment that Angela has placed over Lester. Angela is also shown alone in the frame. This shows that in Lesters mind, only Angela and himself exist at this moment. Not even his daughter is of any relevance. The scene concludes with the camera then performing a shot-reverse-shot of Angela then Lester. This allows the audience to see that in Lesters fantasy, Angela is dancing erotically just for him and is paying as much attention to him as he is paying to her. It is important to note that Angela and Lester are never shown in the same frame in this scene. This suggest that there is some barrier that is between them such as the fact that Lester is desiring a girl that is his daughters age. Lighting is another technical element that adds to the effectiveness of this scene. When the camera performs a point of view shot from Lesters perspective to show the audience that he is fixated on Angela; Angela is shown by herself in the frame. As stated above, this is to show that Angela is the only object of Lesters attention. Lighting adds to this effect. Lighting is used to focus the audience on Lesters eyes and to show that he is being enchanted by what he sees. As Angela is shown alone in the frame, the background in the shot becomes completely black. There is a bright light shining on Angela. The source of the light is not clear, and is coming from above Angela. The lighting in the scene is high contrast and low key. It is high contrast because the difference between light and darkness is clear. It is low key lighting because Angelas shadow can be seen behind her and shadows can be seen on the rest of Lesters face, excluding his eyes.. The contributions that the lighting effect has in this scene are many. First of all, the light shining solely on Angela adds to the audience understanding that Angela is the object of Lesters attention. Secondly, light is usually affiliated with good and darkness with bad. The light compliments Angelas characteristics because she is a virgin. Since the source of the lig ht cannot be seen, there can be speculation that the light is one from Heaven, shining down on her to show her innocence. At the same time, Angela is trying to be somebody that she is not. She consistently claims throughout the movie that she is sexually experienced. The darkness in the background of the shot can be the foreshadowing of things to come if she continues on this path of lies. Even though she may be a virgin, unknowingly to Lester; Lester views her and is thinking bad thoughts. He is fixated with her sexuality, as shown through the dance routine his fantasy has Angela perform. Lesters thoughts which represent darkness, are shown as surrounding Angela and her innocence. Editing complements this scene by adding more definition to the relationship-to-be between Angela and Lester. The entire scene uses decoupage. It is decoupage because the cutting is fast paced which suggests an almost chaotic and imbalance perspective to the audience and at the same time it shows that the thoughts that are going through Lesters head are not ordinary, instead they are chaotic. Also, decoupage has a tendency to use close-ups. This scene has plenty of zoom shots of Angela and Lester. Furthermore, it is important to note that Angela and Lester are never shot together in the scene. They are individually shot in a shot-reverse-shot fashion. This suggest a disunity between the both of them. Again, something is separating the both of them, such as the age gap. Not including the absence of decoupage and ellipsis is important in this scene. Absence of decoupage requires a decelerated pace. A slower pace would take away from the chaotic sensation that decoupage brings and; therefore, would not reflect well on the relationship-to-be between Angela and Lester. Using ellipsis would require fast-paced cutting that would c ompare and contrast the actions occurring in this scene with another scene. This would disturb the scene and take away its effectiveness. By showing the degree of passion between Angela and Lester in his fantasy; the audience learns much about Lesters intentions and transformation. The usage of sound adds to the effectiveness of both Angelas moves and Lesters thoughts in this scene. The scene begins with Jane, Angela, and the other cheerleaders dancing to a wordless version of On Broadway. This is parallel diegetic sound because it relates to what can be seen on screen. The usage of this song is important to the theme of this movie. Lester is about to embark on a mission to be free. Lester is going to pursue happiness. In the same way, On Broadway is about pursuing a new experience. On Broadway speaks about coming to New York and being taken aback by all the lights and attractiveness of the city. In the same manner, Lester is about to be taken aback by an American beauty, Angela. Fu rther in the scene, through shot-reverse-shot fashion, only Angela and Lester are in the frame (they are shown separately); the song On Broadway and the crowd cannot be heard. This is an example of contrapuntal sound. Contrapuntal sound involves muting sound beyond what one would normally hear if he/she were in that scene. Using this devise adds to the audience understanding the amount of attention that Lester is giving Angela. Lester, in his fantasy, is so infatuated with Angela that it appears that he can zone-out all the other tremendous noise occurring during a basketball game. During Lesters fantasy, as Angela is dancing in an extremely erotic manner, touching her body all over, a slow and erotic song begins to play. The song has a romantic and Latin beat to it that intensifies the mood from the audiences perspective; providing clues as to what Lesters intentions are with Angela. This is an example of non-diegetic sound. It is sound that does not have its source in the image. The second scene of interest occurs when Lesters erotic dreams are about to become reality. Lester and Angela are in his house. Lester has confessed to Angela that he wanted her since the first time he laid eyes upon her . The scene begins with Lester laying Angela down on a couch so he could have sex with her. This scene is essential because Angela and her virginity is for the taking, but Lester comes to a realization and refuses to have sex. Lester transforms once again, from the teenage rebel he had become, back to the man he was. He came to understand, as most boys do when they become mature men, that sex is not the key element to happiness. Lester did want his past back. However, he wanted back the past that included the family he had lost. Composition and camera movement are used in this scene. As the scene begins, Lester has Angela and is laying her down on the couch. This is a dynamic shot with downward movement. It is dynamic because there is movement within a fixed frame. The downward movement implies an action that is not positive, such as Lester having sex with a teenager. Furthermore, the downward movement implies something lost, such as Angelas virginity and innocence. If they have sex , both of those will be lost forever. This shot is also a canted shot. It is a canted shot because Angela appears at a 45 degree angle in the frame. This suggest that things are bizarre and that Angelas point of view is slanted. A bizarre sex act is about to occur, and Angela is inexperienced, and doesnt know the first thing about why she should be having sex. As the scene continues, the camera pans from left to right and right to left following Lesters hands as they go up and down Angelas body. The camera movement intensifies the erotic feeling in the audience. The camera then moves to a dynamic crane shot , showing Lesters hands unbuttoning Angelas blouse. That shot is then followed by shot-reverse shot of Angela and Lester looking at one another. Angela, is given the low angle, looking-up at Lester, which implies that Lester is in control. This complements the idea that society considers it a macho action for the man to be in control. Still thinking under the mentality of a hormone-crazed teen, Lester feels good. It i s important to note that Lester and Angela are not shown in the same shot during these actions. This implies disunity and an ironic separation because they are about to engage in the most intimate activity two humans can share with one another. It is also important to note, that during the crane shots, Angela is consistently given the higher position in the frame. This implies that she is pure and innocent because usually good elements are given the higher position over bad elements (such as heaven being in the sky and hell down under). As Lester is prepared to begin the sex act, Angela reveals that she is a virgin. It is at this point that Lester realizes what he is doing and stops. This shot is a dynamic shot with a crane. It is as if, by some divine intervention, Lester came to realize the error of his ways before it was too late. The scene concludes with a dynamic shot of Lester apologizing to Angela and, for the first time in this scene, they are scene in the same frame. This time, Lester is given the higher position in the frame. This symbolizes that he has come to a realization and is wise. The usage of lighting in this scene implies many symbolic meanings. Throughout the entire scene Angela is shot with light. For example, when the scene begins, Angela is laid down by Lester on a couch. Angela is wearing a white blouse, the couch she is lying on is white, and the light from outside is dimly shining on her, emphasizing the fact that she is wearing white. The light and the color white represent purity: Angela is a virgin. On the other hand, Lester is shown with even less light. As the came ra follows his hands erotically going up and down Angelas body; Lesters hands are given the least amount light possible in order to emphasize the impurity aspect of what he is doing. The lighting in this scene is low contrast and low key. It is low contrast because the light used was dim and was rather gray. This implies a sense of mystery because the audience knows that Carolyn is on the way to the house to kill Lester. Also, the audience is unsure if Lester is going to go through with having sex with Angela. It is low key because both Angelas and Lesters shadows can be seen. Editing is very significant in this scene. Decoupage is used throughout this scene. Decoupage implies that there will be fast-paced cutting. This is absolutely necessary in this scene in order to add to the excitement of the scene. Angela and Lester are at the point of no return. It is not clear what is going to happen. Fast paced cutting accelerates the speed of the scene, as almost to provide the audience with excitement. In this case, the kind of excitement that a teenage boy, or Lester, in this case, would feel before having sex. However, unlike the previous scene, this scene uses an ellipsis. This takes place when Lester is rubbing his hands around Angelas thighs. The scene cuts to Jane and Ricky. Both of them are about to run away to New York. The ellipsis occurs to show the audience what has caused Jane to do this. Lester never paid attention to Jane. Instead, he focused on her friend. All Jane wanted was atte ntion from her dad, but Lester was preoccupied with being irresponsible and chasing a girl. The scene then switches back to Angela and Lester. It is important to note that Angela and Lester are never shot in the same frame while sex is still a possibility between the both of them. Instead, they are shot in a shot-reverse-shot fashion. When Lester realizes the error he has made, both of them are shot in the same frame as a two-shot showing unity and resolution over the dilemma. Sound is used heavily in this scene. As the scene begins non-diegetic sound is used. This sound has no source in the image. The sound is music played by a piano and chimes. The music gives the audience a sense of the erotica that is occurring on the screen between Angela and Lester. It also serves a connector to Lesters fantasies. Whenever, Lester fantasizes, an erotic song is used. This time, his fantasy is about to come true. The music comes to an abrupt end when Angela reveals that she is a virgin. Suddenly, Lester realizes that he cannot have sex with a teenager. The ending of the music symbolized the conclusion of that fantasy as well as marked his return to manhood. Throughout this scene, it was raining outside. If you were in the scene you would be able to hear raindrops. But not in this case. This exemplifies the usage of contrapuntal sound. The raindrops were not heard during this scene. This gives the audience an idea of the amount of concentration that Lester was, once again, giving Angela. While Angela was around, nothing else mattered to Lester. Lesters inability to deal with difficult situations, combined with his need for freedom and lack for responsibility, appear to have been too much. Unfortunately, he realized that too late.

The Primal Scattering of Languages: Philosophies, Myths and Genders :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

The Primal Scattering of Languages: Philosophies, Myths and Genders ABSTRACT: In After Babel, George Steiner recounts ‘two main conjectures’ in mythology which explain ‘the mystery of many tongues on which a view of translation hinges.’ One such mythic tale is the tower of Babel, which not only Steiner, but also Jacques Derrida after him, take as their starting point to approach the question of translation; the other conjecture tells of 'some awful error [which] was committed, an accidental release of linguistic chaos, in the mode of Pandora’s Box' (Steiner). This paper will take this other conjecture, the myth of Pandora, first woman of the Greek creation myth, as its point of departure, not only to offer a feminized version of the primal scattering of languages, but to rewrite in a positive light and therefore also toreverse the negative and misogynist association of Pandora with "man’s" fall. But, rather than exposing the entrenched patriarchal bias in mythographers’ interpretations of Pandora, my for emost aim is to pose, through her figure, questions about language and woman, and, by extension, the mother tongue and female sexuality. In After Babel George Steiner recounts "two main conjectures" in mythology which explain "the mystery of many tongues on which a view of translation hinges". One such mythic tale is the tower of Babel, which not only Steiner, but also Jacques Derrida after him, take as their starting point to approach the question of translation; the other conjecture tells of "some awful error [which] was committed, an accidental release of linguistic chaos, in the mode of Pandora's Box" (Steiner 1975:57). This paper will take this other conjecture, the myth of Pandora, first woman of the Greek creation myth, as its point of departure, not only to offer a feminized version of the primal scattering of languages, but to rewrite in a positive light and therefore also reverse the negative and misogynist association of Pandora with man's fall. Rather than adopting the patrilinear account Derrida or Steiner give as regards the origin of translation, I will use the figure of Pandora to combine, and rewrite, aspects both of the Babel myth and the Oedipus myth. This is because, whilst Babel is associated with loss, the loss of one tongue, and Oedipus is associated with lack, man's castration anxiety, Pandora's box has been associated with both: the threat of linguistic chaos, i.e. the loss of understanding, and the threat of woman's sexuality, i.

Essay --

Schaefer, Ashleigh Ling 325 Professor Mathis Part 1: Annotated Bibliography: Gender Stereotypes in Subject Matter 1. Cvencek, D. , Meltzoff, A. , & Greenwald, A. (2011). Math–gender stereotypes in elementary school children. Child Development, 82(3), 766-779. Gà ¶mleksiz, M. (2012). This article focuses on the connection between one’s perception of their own gender and how it affects their belief of cultural stereotypes placed on their gender. Cveneck, Meltzoof, and Greenwald examined various children, 126 girls and 121 boys, between the ages of 6-10 in elementary school by giving the children Implicit Association tests and along with having them provide self-reports to see if their perception of gender affected their ideas of certain subject matters in the school. The self-reports asked the children questions regarding gender identity, gender stereotypes, and their self-concept. This article focuses on examining the cultural stereotypes about math. Their research focuses on the stereotype that â€Å"math is for boys†. Cvencek, Meltzoff, and Greenwald argue that this is because their self-concept is a â€Å"I am a female† along with the cultural stereotype that â€Å"math is for boys† tends to lead females to the belief that â€Å" I am a girl therefore I’m not good at math†. Cveneck, Meltzoof, and Greenwald had the children take a quiz on the computer. For each question the children were provided with a statement then asked to choose whether or not the male or female character possessed the aforementioned attributes. Once the children chose which character/gender possessed the attribute they were then asked whether or not their selected character possessed this characteristic â€Å"a little† or â€Å"a lot†. The second part of the study involved childre... ...eresting about their research was that it showed even at a young age girls tend to believe â€Å"math is for boys†. This suggests that the language used in regards to subject matter and gender is ingrained in young minds from a young age. Since math is a learned skill males and females should both have the ability to excel in the subject mater. However, cultural stereotypes regarding math as a primarily male domain run deep and hold females back. It was interesting to see the statements both genders related to in the studies. These articles suggest that gender stereotyping with subject matter is nurture based. If females didn’t hear from a young age that â€Å"math is for boys† then perhaps they could enter the subject matter in a confident manner. Overall, these articles follow the generalizations seen throughout the semester about the differences between females and males.

Safe Personal Computing to National Security :: Computers Technology Internet Essays

Safe Personal Computing to National Security Am I Safe at my computer? I’ve posed that question and others to myself many times. Are the e-mail’s I send almost daily truly secure? Are my confidential e-mails from the Ohio University’s server truly confidential? Who else can see what I see? Sure in a perfect world we all would like to believe we‘re safe but the simple fact is that we are not safe all the time and the world is not perfect. People â€Å"hack†, as it is referred to, into almost anything or anywhere. I’d like to think that most people would have the ethics not to violate my personal security, but that’s just it they don’t. This since increasingly our â€Å"e-criminal† of today has the technical skills of an adult and the ethics of a small child (Shuchman). Most astonishing of all is that this is occurring because they are small children, or teens. I choose this topic because computers, e-mail, and the World Wide Web are increasingly becoming the dominate necessity of m y daily life. I am at a computer a least three times a day for lengthy periods of time. I send out personal account information, my social security number and other important secure information across the web and not mention all the information I store my computers hard drive. So I ask once again am I safe? Hacked at Home and Nation Wide You use to only here about the â€Å"serious† e-crimes. You know the ones that try to take down the CIA or the stock exchange. Now the hackers and security risks are hitting home. In the form virus that can do anything from crippling your PC to sending in worms that eat up your files. The attacks aren’t just personal wither. In the spring of 2001 there were attacks on hundreds of personal computers connected to the web via the new broad band connections. Two attacks involving nearly 500 Windows-powered PCs with broadband connections were used to shut down a security consultant's Web site in Southern California (Thorsburg). Hundreds of home computers were seemingly recruited into some sort of malicious cyber army. This or these hackers used computer like yours and mine to work for them turn them against a larger network.

Nonsmokers: A Prospective Study

In 2006, Rudolf bertagnoli and his team published a study investigating the effects of smoking on patients who have undergone Lumbar total disc arthroplasty. â€Å"Smoking has always been considered to a negative predictor for fusion surgery.† (Bertagnoli. R, 2006) Not many studies have been undertaken to observe effects of smoking on the procedure of Total arthroplasty and the recovery afterwards in smoking and non smoking patients. Some research suggests that smoking prevents or reduces the bones ability to grow into the prosthesis. Delay in recovery and decrease in over all success of the implantation procedure have also been blamed on smoking. (ProDisc Total Disc Replacement, 2008) â€Å"The aim of the study was to evaluate the changes in functional and disability outcomes within a period of two years minimum in smoking and nonsmoking patients who have undergone the artificial disc replacement therapy.† (Bertagnoli. R, 2006) The Null hypothesis and the Alternate hypothesis proposed were as follows. Null Hypothesis: Smoking has no detrimental effect on success of artificial disc replacement (ADR). Alternate Hypothesis: â€Å"Smoking has a detrimental effect on the success of artificial disc replacement (ADR).† (Bertagnoli. R, 2006) A cohort study was conducted with an initial sample of 110 patients between March 2000 and April 2002. The inclusion criteria for the sampling included, smokers and non smokers, age between 18-65 years, â€Å"disabling low back pain and some radicular pain secondary to single-level lumbar spondylosis† (Bertagnoli. R, 2006) , patients undergoing minimum of 2 year follow up and assessment, and lastly failure of medical treatment. They excluded â€Å"patients with spinal stenosis, osteoporosis, prior fusion surgery, chronic infections, metal allergies, facet arthrosis, inadequate vertebral endplate size, more than one level of spondylosis, neuromuscular disease, pregnancy, Workers' Compensation, spinal litigation, body mass index greater than 35, and/or any isthmic.† (Bertagnoli. R, 2006) Patient’s smoking status was recorded through questionnaires. Preoperative aspects of the lumbar anomaly were recorded radiographically. Outcome measurements were recorded at 3rd, 6th, 12th and the 24th month after undergoing the procedure. The procedure success and recovery progression was noted using the Visual Analog Score (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Questionnaires recording the back pain, pain drugs usage and patient satisfaction were also used. Preoperative and postoperative radiographical assessment of the back was also used to observe the recovery progression in both, the smoking and non smoking group of patients. Dependent variables included Smoking and Non smoking group. Whereas the independent variables included VAS, ODI, patient satisfaction, leg pain, work rates (postoperative), and drugs used postoperatively. Statistical analysis was done as it was found that even though there was significant changes between preoperative and postoperative variable like VAS, ODI, patient satisfaction, relief of leg pain work rate etc but no statistically significant differences were found between these outcomes of smoking patients when compared with nonsmokers. Therefore, the study fails to reject the null hypothesis, which still stands, i.e. â€Å"Smoking has no detrimental effect on success of artificial disc replacement (ADR).† (Bertagnoli. R, 2006) The research was conducted in a controlled manner excluded many bias.   But further studies need to be conducted with larger sample sizes to further explore the role of smoking if any, in the success of disc replacement. Also there is need for exploring the link between blood levels of nicotine and success of procedure as well as the effects of smoking and indicators of bone adherence to the prosthesis needs to be further conducted. Couple of questions that come to mind, if nicotine plays such great inhibiting effect on the bone and collagen growth as the study claims, then why wasn’t the effect of smoking   on growth factors and their monitoring not included in the study. Also, if as the researchers claim, that nicotine has an analgesic effect on patient, was it not included as a component in the study? REFERENCES Bertagnoli. R., Yue. J.J., Kershaw.T, Shah.R, V., Pfeiffer. F, Fenk-Mayer, A, et al. (2006). Lumbar Total Disc Arthroplasty Utilizing the ProDisc Prosthesis in Smokers versus Nonsmokers: A Prospective Study with 2-Year Minimum Follow-up. Spine, 3, 992-997. ProDisc Total Disc Replacement (2008).   Spine Service- Sydney, Australia, retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from http://www.spine-service.org/dr.html ; ; ; ; ;

Money and Happiness, It Never Works Together Essay

Often times if you inherit a large amount of money your life can change forever much like in a lottery, however if you are not careful you may just be the opposite of happy. However, businessmen who earn their money are proud of it, just ask lottery winners who have had their lives altered because of that. Well, in Goodbye, Columbus the Patimkin family act a lot like lottery winners, Mr. Patimkin a wealthy businessman has a spoiled family who in actually doesn’t seems happy with their wealth. As more and more problems started to arise with money, things started to unravel with the family. In Goodbye Columbus, Phillip Roth shows that Brenda and her mother’s tensions over money, Brenda’s lifestyle decisions about money (including the nose job), and the obvious generation gap shows that financial success does not always lead to happiness. Brenda and her mother have issues about money, and Brenda’s apparent laziness over having maids leads her to believe she can do whatever she wants. They fight over Brenda’s view on her not appreciating the value of money, since her mother tells her â€Å"You ought to earn some money and buy your own clothes†, but Brenda always thinks she doesn’t have to earn her money and â€Å"daddy† should buy her clothes and nose jobs for her. Not only that, they fight about work ethic because Brenda thinks the maid should do everything and her mother think she is lazy for it was said by Brenda’s mother â€Å"You ought to learn what a day’s work means.† (64). Brenda however doesn’t think that way, in fact she think she thinks she’s â€Å"†¦not a slave†¦I’m a daughter† which gives readers the impression that she is a brat, and that she does not appreciate the value of hard work or money. Brenda’s mother also believes Brenda is lazy, and Brenda thinks the maids can do all the dishes and housework: â€Å"When’s the last time you washed the dishes†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Jesus Christ!’†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Carlotta washes the dishes!† this shows Brenda has a mindset that because she is rich she doesn’t have to do anything. Therefore, Brenda and her mother’s constant fighting show that they have plenty of tension between them to prove that money never has led to personal happiness. While Brenda and her mother have personal issues that lead to money not giving them happiness, Brenda’s personal decisions & her lifestyle have dictated her way on not being happy with money. Brenda always has a mindset that her maids Carlotta and Jenny do everything when in reality, she is the one that needs to be doing work, as this was stated during her fight with her mother: â€Å"My god, mother you’d think we didn’t have Carlota and Jenny† (64). She because of her monetary status (being wealthy) she assumes that she doesn’t have any chores to do, however her mother thinks Brenda should help more around the house (and in a way calls her spoiled): â€Å"When is the last time you lifted a finger to help around here?†, therefore in a way their social and economic status had led to money being a problem because of their fighting. Brenda’s lifestyle choices also dictate why money doesn’t always bring happiness, for example Brenda wanted a nose job to smooth out the bumps in it, but in reality she wanted to look prettier: â€Å"I’m pretty. Now I’m prettier.† If someone wanted to look prettier, they could have spent less money on her, but instead Brenda spent a thousand dollars on the nose job just to be prettier. The generation gap between the Patimkin parent’s and children could also explain why money doesn’t always lead to happiness. Mr. Patimkin explains that he wasn’t as wealthy as his was now, instead he â€Å"†¦had (to buy) forks and knives for the five and ten.†(95) Which means he bought his things from nickel and dime â€Å"discount† stores (like the Dollar Store) when he was a kid. However he then goes on to say that his kids â€Å"†¦need gold to eat off of†(95) which implies that they are spoiled, however he isn’t angry at his kids instead he is happy he can pass on his current wealth to them â€Å"but here was no anger far from it. However, his kids (the next generation) are exactly the opposite, instead of buying thinks from discount stores and working hard they are getting nose jobs, relying on their maids, and going to country clubs which are all things upper class people do. There defiantly is a generation gap between the working class Mr. and Mrs. Patimkin, and the spoiled Brenda, Ron, and even Julie Patimkin. The Patimkins are not a dysfunctional family by any means, in fact they are a loving family by many aspects, they respect each other, and in the end it is money that implodes the family. It is unknown if the family’s generation gap is filled, but judging by the attitude of the children it seems that they may never be happy in their spirits. And while it seems that money is keeping them happy on the surface, maybe it is money that is driving them apart. Just ask anyone that ever won the lottery and you will know that their lives have change drastically, much like the Patimkins live have changed once they realized that.