Gender Roles And Media Portrayals Research Paper

Gender Roles And Media Portrayals - Research Paper Example Men were portrayed as dominant, strong, and independent providers. Most past television programs portrayed them as the dominant gender in the society. Men were free to choose what they felt was working for them at the expense of the opinions from the ladies. For example, in Mad Men, the executives treated their secretaries in the offices as objects rather than human beings. In fact, it is easy to observe how they disposed of them after having sexual encounters. In the end, women were not seen as having any value to the men. It is worth noting that the current television programs tend to bring out the rapid changes in the society. For example, in the television series, Modern Family, the role of the women and men in the family tends to change. Women start assuming significant roles, for example, some of them become breadwinners while men become domesticated by their wives. Rapid changes captured by these television series indicate how the society is changing. For instance, the concept of gay marriages is brought to the fore. Though it is difficult to accept at first, we eventually see a society that positions itself to accept these changes. In conclusion, there is nothing as inevitable as change. The television continues to influence the societal transformation through fostering progression of gender roles that took place in the past half century and today. In comparison to the past, there is a significant change in gender roles and various stereotypes in television today (Trier-Bieniek, 2014).

Structures of Bacterial Tyrosinases

Structures of Bacterial Tyrosinases Tyrosinases oxidise phenolic hydroxyl groups of small molecules or large polymeric substrates such as proteins. Tyrosinases catalyse first the ortho-hydroxylation of the phenolic substrate and second its subsequent oxidation to quinone (Figure 1) with the concomitant reduction of oxygen to water. The reaction is chromogenic as the quinones produced can undergo further non-enzymatic polymerisation to form black eu-melanins and, when reacting with thiol groups, brownish pheo-melanins [14]. This process can be inhibited by antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, for example to prevent the browning reaction in food preparations [15]. Tyrosinase activity is generally measured by either determining the consumption of oxygen during the reaction or spectrophotometrically by following the increase of absorbance at 475 nm due to dopachrome formation. The cross-linking activity of tyrosinase on proteins is usually analysed by SDS PAGE, size-exclusion chromatography, UV spectroscopy or mass spectrom etry [16]. The active site of tyrosinases interacts with both the phenolic substrates and the co-substrate oxygen and it alternates among three different oxidation states. When in the oxy state, tyrosinase binds oxygen and is able to catalyse the hydroxylation of monophenols to diphenols, thus changing into the met form. The met form of tyrosinase is responsible for the oxidation of diphenols to quinones and the reaction turns the enzyme into the deoxy form that, upon binding molecular oxygen, returns to the oxy form. The met form is the resting state of the enzyme and it has been calculated that up to 85% of the enzyme is in this state when in solution [17, 18]. The inability of most of the enzymes in an enzyme population to act on monophenols explains why a significant lag phase is detected in the activity when monophenols are the substrate of the reaction. Bacterial tyrosinases have been divided in five types according to the organisation of domains and the possible requirement of a caddie protein for enzyme activity [12]. The necessity of a secondary helper protein (caddie protein) for secretion, correct folding, assembly of the copper atoms and activity of the enzyme is common to tyrosinases of type I, e.g. the enzyme from S. castaneoglobisporus and S. antibioticus [19, 20]. Type II tyrosinases are small, monomeric enzymes containing only the catalytic domain, which do not require additional helper proteins and are possibly secreted. An example is the tyrosinase from B. megaterium [6]. Type III tyrosinases are represented by the enzyme from Verrucomicrobium spinosum. Like the fungal tyrosinases it carries a C-terminal domain whose removal led to about 100-fold higher activity [21]. This supports the theory that the role of the C-terminal extension in plant and fungal tyrosinases is to keep the enzyme in an inactive form inside the ce ll [22-24]. Among the smallest bacterial tyrosinases reported (Type IV) are the ones produced by Streptomyces nigrifaciens (18 kDa) and Bacillus thuringiensis (14 kDa) [25, 26]. However, it is debated whether these proteins are true tyrosinases [12]. Type V tyrosinases include enzymes that do not carry the sequence features of tyrosinases but show features typical of laccase and have only marginal activity on tyrosine. For example, a membrane-bound tyrosinase active on the typical laccase substrate ABTS (NCBI ID: AAF75831.2) has been isolated from Marinomonas mediterranea. A tyrosinase with a classical substrate specificity that is activated by SDS (NCBI ID: AAV49996.1) has also been reported from the same organism [27]. Similar to catechol oxidases and the oxygen carrying haemocyanins, tyrosinases are type-3 copper proteins, containing two copper atoms in the active site. The absorbance spectrum of oxy-tyrosinases has a characteristic maximum in the UV region (330-345 nm). As reported for the structurally similar catechol oxidases, a fluorescence intensity maximum at 330 nm upon excitation at 280 nm is also detected [28, 29]. Copper is essential for the catalytic activity of tyrosinases. The crystal structure of these enzymes has demonstrated the presence of two copper ions in the catalytic core (Table 1). In all tyrosinases of different origins and in the haemocyanins each of the copper ions is coordinated by three histidine residues that are found in a characteristic pattern in the primary structure (Figure 2). In the tyrosinase from Streptomyces glaucescens, for example, the key role of histidines at position 37, 53, 62, 189, 193 and 215 in the coordination of copper, and thus in catalytic activi ty, was confirmed by the decrease of activity upon their substitution with other amino acids [30, 31]. Various additional residues have been identified to have a function in fungal and bacterial tyrosinases, either being essential for or modulating tyrosinase activity. Sequence analysis and various mutagenesis studies have been performed in order to identify the residues necessary for the activity of the enzyme. In tyrosinase sequences from plants and fungi, the N-terminal signal peptide, when present, is followed by a conserved arginine residue that marks the beginning of the central catalytic domain and that forms a pi-cation interaction with a conserved C-terminal Y/FXY tyrosine motif, where X is any amino acid [32]. These residues are conserved also in bacterial tyrosinases (Supplementary file 1). Substitution of the N-terminal conserved arginine (R40) has been reported to abolish the production of tyrosinase from V. spinosum [21]. Two single-amino acid substitutions have been reported to improve the catalytic activity of the tyrosinase from Rhizobium etli CFN42. The independent r eplacement of proline at position 334 and of aspartic acid at position 535 (Supplementary file 1) with a smaller residue such as serine (P334S) or glycine (D535G), respectively, led to a significant enhancement of the catalytic activity and melanin formation [33-35]. In the tyrosinase from B. megaterium, a single substitution of arginine by histidine within the copper B binding region (R209H) has been sufficient for a 1.7-fold improvement of the activity towards tyrosine (monophenolase) and for a 1.5-fold reduction of activity on L-DOPA (diphenolase), whereby the overall protein stability was not affected [36]. The crystal structure of the tyrosinase from B. megaterium showed that this arginine is positioned at the entrance of the active site in a flexible position and plays a role in the docking of the substrate [6]. However, the conservative substitution of the corresponding residue asparagine 190 to glutamine (N190Q) in S. glaucescens tyrosinase abolished the catalytic activity, indicating that this residue was possibly involved in hydrogen bonding at the active site [30]. Moreover, the conservative substitution of the residue aspartic acid 209 (D209E) has been reported to stabilise the oxy-form of the same enzyme [37]. To our knowledge, no study has investigated the role of the oxygen binding motif PYWDW [38] with regards to the affinity for oxygen in tyrosinase. The affinity for the co-substrate oxygen has been evaluated for the tyrosinase from Streptomyces antibioticus that carries the PYWDW motif. It was found that this enzyme had a three-fold lower dissociation constant (kD) for oxygen than the A. bisporus tyrosinase [39, 40] that carries a PFWDW motif, i.e. 16.5 ÃŽ ¼M compared to 46.6 ÃŽ ¼M. The analysis of the characterised bacterial tyrosinases evidenced the presence of functionally active variants of this motif (Supplementary file 1 and 2), e.g. PYWNY in the tyrosinase from M. mediterranea, PFWDW in tyrosinase from R. etli, PYWEW in the tyrosinase from B. megaterium, PYWRF and PYWNW in the tyrosinases from Ralstonia solanacearum. Mutational studies have also addressed the interaction of tyrosinases from streptomycetes and their caddie protein. In S. antibioticus, the two histidine residues at positions 102 and 117 of the caddie protein MelC1 have been found to be crucial for the biosynthesis of active tyrosinase [41]. The available crystal structures of bacterial tyrosinases and their mutant forms have been obtained from Gram-positive S. castaneoglobisporus and B. megaterium (Table 1). While the B. megaterium tyrosinase formed crystals containing only the enzyme, the S. castaneoglobisporus tyrosinase required the presence of a second protein, referred to as caddie protein, to stabilise its structure [4]. Moreover, the structure of the Streptomyces tyrosinase has been solved in different states of oxidation. Aiming at understanding the interaction between tyrosinase and caddie protein, tyrosinase has been crystallised in the presence of mutant forms of the caddie protein (Table 1). Likewise, the fungal tyrosinase from A. bisporus was crystallised as a tetramer in a complex with a second protein, a lectin-like protein [7]. Both intracellular and secreted bacterial tyrosinases have been isolated and characterised. For example, the tyrosinases from Streptomyces nigrifaciens, Bacillus thuringiensis, M. mediterranea, R. solanacearum and Thermomicrobium roseum were isolated from cell biomass and the ones from S. antibioticus, S. glaucescens, S. castaneoglobisporus, Streptomyces albus, B. megaterium, Sinorhizobium meliloti, Aeromonas media, R. etli and V. spinosum were either isolated from the culture medium or predicted to be secreted [19, 21, 25, 26,42-51]. The twin-arginine signal peptide is often found in cofactor-binding oxidoreductases that undergo complete folding in the cytoplasm prior to secretion to the periplasmic or extracellular space. Twin-arginine type signal peptides [52] could be identified in the N-terminal region of tyrosinases from R. solanacearum (34-amino acid long) and V. spinosum (33-amino acid long). A more detailed analysis of the sequence retrieved for the tyrosinase from R. etli a nd the alignment with the other sequences of tyrosinases (Supplementary File 1) suggests the possibility of incorrect open reading frame prediction. The true N-terminal methionine may be M112 (underlined in Supplementary file 1) as it aligns with the initial residue of the tyrosinase from R. solanacearum (number 15 in Supplementary file 1) and is followed by a predicted twin-arginine signal peptide of 31 amino acids [51]. Thus, we suggest that these proteins purified from the cell biomass but carrying a signal peptide for secretion are localised in the periplasm. Tyrosinases, also from bacteria, and their caddie proteins generally lack conserved cysteine residues (for comments see [11, 12]). The paucity of cysteine residues, and thus disulphide bonds, allowed, however, the isolation of tyrosinases with significant thermal stability, e.g. the enzyme from B. megaterium had an optimum temperature of 50Â °C [48]. A single cysteine residue is conserved in proximity of the second histidine residue of the copper A binding motif in the characterised tyrosinases from M. mediterranea, R. solanacearum, S. meliloti, R. etli and V. spinosum (Supplementary file 1). A cysteine residue at this position has been found to be covalently bound to a histidine residue two positions forward in, for example, the fungal tyrosinase from Neurospora crassa [53], the plant catechol oxidase from I. batata [8] and haemocyanins from the snail Helix pomatia [54]. The function of this unusual cysteine-histidine bond is not established, but it could confer structural rigidity to the copper-binding region and affect the redox potential [8]. Replacement of this cysteine residue (C84) with serine abolished the production of the tyrosinase from V. spinosum [21]. Type-3 copper proteins carrying six conserved cysteines (forming three in silico predicted disulphide bonds) and characterised by significant thermal stability have been reported in fungi [26]. No mutagenesis study has addressed a possible improvement of the thermal stability of bacterial tyrosinases by introducing disulphide bonds. However, in silico analysis revealed the possible presence of one disulphide bond in the tyrosinases from R. solanacearum and S. meliloti and two in the enzymes from M. mediterranea and R. etli (Dianna software, http://clavius.bc.edu/~clotelab/DiANNA). The tyrosinase from S. castaneoglobisporus and the one from B. megaterium share approximately 30% sequence similarity with a catechol oxidase from Aspergillus oryzae that showed a melting temperature above 70Â °C and a ha lf-life of 20 hours when incubated at 50Â °C [29]. It should be noted that the tyrosinase from A. media exhibits different sequence features when compared to the other enzymes. The sequence alignment with bacterial tyrosinases shows that none of the typical signature motifs (copper A and B regions, oxygen binding motif and tyrosine motif) are present (see Supplementary file 1). Moreover, this enzyme has a predicted 23-amino acid long signal peptide [50] and shows strong sequence similarity to bacterial periplasmic proteins that are responsible for the uptake of peptides and involved in nutrition and sensing of the environment [55].

Men and Women: As Interpreted by Deborah Tannen Essay -- essays resear

Did you know, â€Å"men and women talk differently because they are raised in something like two different cultures: a male culture from which young men learn to speak like men and a female culture in which young women learn to speak like women?†(Cooper and MacDonald 9). Well, not actually from two separate cultures, but the idea of men and women being opposites as pointed out in the opening. Deborah Tannen has made her theory that a male culture and female culture each exist, very popular with the human population and has written an extensive book on her theory. To define these communication conundrums, Tannen discusses â€Å"rapport-talk† and â€Å"report-talk†. She defines â€Å"rapport-talk† as â€Å"For most women, the language of conversation is primarily a language of rapport: a way of establishing connections and negotiating relationships† (Cooper and MacDonald 10). Rapport-talk has its strong points focused on showing similarities and matching experiences. Women choose private speaking as the best places for communication. They like small settings and small groups of people that they know well. Tannen uses â€Å"report-talk† to explain how men communicate. â€Å"Report-talk† is â€Å"For most men, talk is primarily a means to preserve independence and negotiate and maintain status in a hierarchical social order† (Cooperand MacDonald 10). Men choose to communicate in public settings, they like to hold center stage by talking as much as possible and to be recognized and acknowledged as h aving a place in th...

That Great Guy: Charles :: essays research papers

Charlemagne was born on April 2, 742, and grew up, illiterate, in a place unknown today. Although Charlemagne was illiterate he did speak old Teutonic, Latin, German, French, Spanish, and understood Greek. Charlemagne is best know as 'Charles the Great'. Charlemagne was 29 when Carloman II, his father, died. Charles then became sole king of France. Two years later he received an appeal for aid against the Lombard Desiderius from Pope Hadrian II. Charles left for was after he received the appeal. When Charlemagne returned to his capital at Aachen he began a series of campaigns designed to round out his empire. This was by conquering and Christianizing Bavaria and Saxony, destroying the troublesome Avars, shielding Italy from the raiding Saracens, and strengthening the defense of Francia against the expanding Moors of Spain. All of the preceding shows what a strong Christian Charlemagne was during his lifetime. Charles the Great also wanted peace and wellness for everyone (no matter who they were). While Charlemagne was king he legislated for agriculture, industry, finance, religion, and especially education. He wanted as many people as possible to go to school and get any sort of an education. Charlemagne was greatly generous toward the Church. Bishops played a leading role in his councils, assemblies, and administrations. Charles called Bishops 'Agents of God'. Charlemagne earned his nickname, 'Charles the Great', because he has been known to be the most powerful king ever. He also started the Hole Roman Empire during his reign. The Hole Roman Empire was one of the most brilliant ideas in the history of statesmanship. It was, altogether, the transformation of Charlemagne's realm into a Holy Roman Empire that should have behind it all the prestige, sanctity, and stability of both Imperial and papal Rome. Charles gave his younger brother, Louis, the privalege of being king in 813.

Multiple Intelligences

Most of the greatest intellectual figures of our time were not really achievers in their classes. Winston Churchill was doing poorly with his school assignments, and he always stuttered during recitations. Albert Einstein was told to quit school because he was often caught daydreaming. Thomas Edison was always punished at school because he was asking too much questions. However, they turned out to be the people who have changed the history of humanity. In some ways, this is also the case of high school drop outs. Not all of the students leave school because of domestic problems, alcoholism, drug addiction or any other reason. In fact, there are students who quit school because they feel that school is not supporting their learning abilities. They believe that they are too much for school, or they learn better in the outside world. This notion somehow affects the students’ self-esteem. In an article online, the authors stated that self-esteem has to be grounded in positive achievement. If self-esteem is impaired, students will lose the eagerness to acquire formal education. Learning should always come with positive attitude a well as reinforcement. As Henry Ford would say it, â€Å"If you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.† Aside from thinking that these students might have behavioral issues or learning disabilities, should the same thought be directed to the education system which overlooks the individuality of students in terms of their learning? Indeed, there are several types of high school curriculum. However, if a particular high school adapts a certain curriculum, it does not guarantee that every student will successfully learn because of the program. The failure of some students may be actually a good thing. It could be a sign that they are better off in other educational programs, or they might even be exceptionally intelligent. Hence, the popularly known academic excellence does not really mean a summary of References Chapter 8 – the secret heart of learning. The Learning Web. Retrieved December 18, 2007 Chapter 10 – do it in style. The Learning Web. Retrieved December 18, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.thelearningweb.net/chapter10/learning_styles_page341.html â€Å"Multiple Intelligences† as Howard Gardner proposed. According to Gardner, there are seven kinds of intelligences: linguistic intelligence (self-expression through words), logical-mathematical (ability on reasoning and numbers), visual-spatial intelligence (ability on recognition and transformation of spaces), body-kinesthetic intelligence (self-expression using one’s body), musical intelligence (involves skill on perception, creation and performance of musical patterns), interpersonal intelligence (capacity to recognize and comprehend other people’s feelings, motivations, intentions and desires), and intrapersonal intelligence (ability to understand oneself). Thus, every student has its own strengths and weaknesses in relation with such intelligences. Consequently, if Gardner’s concept of multiple intelligences could be applied, the recognition of individual learning abilities would be fostered. Students will have the opportunity to develop and maximize their skills with the appropriate curricula. Students will likely stay in school, because they are encouraged to learn and improve themselves according to their capacities. For instance, students who cut classes and eventually drop out because they want to pursue their rock band could be educated in a musically-directed program. In this way, they will have the chance to be enhanced musically at an advance level rather than just learning the basics in a music class or by being a member of the marching band. As a result, high school kids will enjoy and even love school because their self-esteem is grounded in what they are best doing. Their attention will even be diverted from entertaining external factors that eventually discourage them from going to school. Teenage problems will potentially drop. Intelligence mostly involves focus. If high school students are educated according to their intelligences, they will have more focus in school. Their concern will be primarily excelling and achieving their future goals. References HOWARD GARDNER: Multiple Intelligence Theory Proponent. Retrieved December 18, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm Smith, Mark. (2002). Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Infed. Retrieved    December 18, 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm   

Cations and Anions Tests

Testing for Cation and Anions OBJECTIVE: †¢ Determine the presence of a cation or anion by a chemical reaction †¢ Determine the cation and anion in an unknown solution All salt solutions have both positive (Cations) and negative (Anions) ions dissolved in it. In this experiment you will observe chemical reactions to determine the presence of specific anions and cations. Compare your observations with the reactions of the known solutions and the unknown solution to determine the ions present in the unknown solution. You will use a flame test for the cations, Na+, K+, and Ca+2 Perform qualitative tests for Ca+2, NH4+, Fe+3.Qualitative tests will be used to identify anions, Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, and CO32-. Expected results of the qualitative test and the reactions are included in your procedure. PROCEDURE: Obtain from the stock room a solid unknown salt to be analyzed for the presence of both cation and anion. HC1, HNO3 are strong acids and NaOH is a strong base so be careful whe n using them. Use the plastic pipettes on the center counter to dispense your unknown solution. Approx. 20 drops is equal to 1 mL, All waste go in the waste jar labeled for your class. Bunsen Burner Safety. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Make sure you are able to get a spark out of the striker consistently!Turn the gas needle valve counter clockwise completely. Adjust the burner barrel so your are able to see through the air inlet Check the rubber tubing and place the rubber hose on the gas nozzle. Turn the gas jet 90 degrees. Open the gas needle valve until you hear the gas and light. If you are not successful in lighting the burner, turn the gas off and try again. Cation Tests Al. Flame Test †¢ Label 3 test tubes, Na+, K+ and Ca+2. Bring the test tubes to the stockroom window to get your wood splint soaked in each of the solution. You will also be given an unused wood splint to use for your unknown. Get your solid unknown as well. Soak the unused wood splint in water. †¢ Observe the change in flame color when the known solutions above are burned. K+ gives a very fleeting color change. Ca+2 gives a very similar flame color as Na+. †¢ Now that you know how observed how Na+, K+ and Ca+2, you will test your unknown. †¢ Transfer a small amount of solid unknown to a scoopula and roll the wood splint †¢ that was soaking in water in the solid unknown and burn. By the end of Part AI, you should be able to conclude the presence or absence of Na+ or K+ and maybe Ca+2. Chemical Tests A2 †¢ Because the flame test for Ca+2 is sometimes inconclusive, the oxalate test is performed. If no immediate precipitation (cloudiness) is observed, heat in a water bath for 5 minutes. Water bath is set up in the southwest hood. A3 †¢ Ammonium chloride, NH4Cl, reacts with sodium hydroxide, NaOH, to form ammonia, NH3 gas. †¢ The presence of the NH3 gas is confirmed using a moistened red litmus paper place on the mouth of the test tube. Ammonia gas is basic and will turn red litmus paper blue. A4 †¢ Fe+3, iron ion, react with potassium thiocyanate, KSCN, to form a blood red solution. By the end of Part A you should be able to identify your one cation. You must do all Tests for the known solutions. Part BThis part of the experiment test for the presence of anions, Cl-, SO42-, PO43- and CO32-. Bl †¢ Chloride ion, Cl-, reacts with silver nitrate, AgNO3 to form a precipitate that does not dissolve in HNO3. B2 †¢ Sulfate ion, SO42-, reacts with barium chloride, BaCl2, to form a precipitate that does not dissolve in HNO3. B3. †¢ Phosphate ion, PO43-, reacts with ammonium molybdate solution, (NH4)2MoO4, in acidic solution to form a yellow precipitate. A yellow solution only is a negative result. B4 †¢ Carbonate ion, CO32-, reacts with HC1 to form CO2 gas that is observed as bubbles. Part C. Each island will have a consumer product to test.

Ethics †Hamburger Essay

Finance is an essential part of Business. It is imperative to be ethical in this sector as it’s the area that handles the money, various ethical issues fall under this sector for example, unlawful conduct (bribery). Health is also a imperative part of business as a business needs to have a sanitary area for employees to work, it’s even more important for McDonalds as they make food. Kitchens & the restaurant need to be sanitary. It’s rather unorthodox that I put Finance and health together, but the combination can bring out an ethical issue which is Bribery. Restaurants Get Health inspections on a regular bases to ensure they are kept to a good standard, it’s not uncommon for a Inspector to be bribed by an owner to give them a good result. Jacksonville October 2011[1] is a perfect example; two men were arrested for receiving bribes. The men were giving good results to poor standard restaurants. These restaurants were named within Jacksonville this means they will receive much less business, they will be lucky to get a few customers. These Restaurants have acted unethically which is part of the reason for the major decline in customers. McDonalds have had one issue of bribery, this was in Hong Kong. The managing director for McDonalds Hong Kong[2] was arrested for accepting bribes. The suppliers of McDonalds Hong Kong were bribing him to ensure McDonalds used them to supply the major fast food restaurant. This was a major hit to McDonalds as their reputation was tarnished, this had an effect on them, and Chinese investors did not want to invest in an unethical company. McDonalds Finance department need to ensure they don’t bribe inspectors or other bodies that have an impact on McDonalds, as that can hurt their reputation by a very large amount. McDonalds finance should also allocate money to ensure stores are sanitary; this will give them no reason to be bribed. McDonalds UK are on the right track as they own the farms that supplies its stores. Ethics: Marketing & Human Resource Many Ethical issues occur in Marketing such as discrimination. The implications this can have are catastrophic. McDonalds being a fast food need to ensure that they don’t discriminate when advertising a new product (promotional burger). If they discriminate then the person subject to discrimination will feel emotionally hurt, which is bad as people around that person will stop going to McDonalds, this will lead to a massive decrease in customers. as they will not want to eat at an unethical restaurant. A prime example of an unethical advert is that of Sony [3] Sony were put under the microscope in recent years as they displayed an unethical advert. The Advert was for the PSP (Play Station Portable) the first issue was the fact that they vandalized New York City in order to create its advert, the images painted on the walls was also discriminating to certain races. Sony was lucky that people never saw this as the sales of their PSP would have been much lower than it was. McDonalds Have a menu just for Children, this means advertising towards them, in doing this they are hooking young children to the temptations of Fast Food. This is an ethical issue as they are increasing the rate of obesity. McDonalds have now made their child menus healthier by giving fruit and veg with each meal. They also advertise the fact that fruit is tasty and healthy. They are trying to get children to eat more fruit. Competitors of McDonalds have no such philosophy, for example KFC advertise family meals, which is good for social backing but, the food they advertise is high in salt, fat and oil. All of which are bad for the body. McDonalds need to ensure that when creating a new meal they don’t discriminate against a race. For example if they make a New Mexican Meal, then they need to make sure they don’t advertise in a way that discriminates against Mexicans and they don’t use any labels within their advert. The HR department helps the marketing department. They tell them various things like, what is considered as discrimination. The HR department must ensure this advert does not discriminate against anyone. HR and marketing also work together when it comes to recruitment, the HR department tells marketing what the criteria for a job is, they must ensure no bias and discrimination is involved within this criteria. The Marketing department will then advertise this to the public. If the advert discriminates against someone then the public will think McDonalds is a poor place to work. Food Production Food production has many Ethical issues especially for McDonalds as they are a Fast Food business. Selling their food means their will be an increase in obesity which is a major ethical issue, as the life expectancy of people will drop. This Issue is perhaps the biggest yet. McDonalds have done well to counter this issue (selling healthier meals) they also warn customers what they are eating. The salt content of the Big Mac [4] is 2. 1g this is 42% of a persons daily allowance. Their Medium Fries has 0. 6g of salt this is 12% of a person’s daily allowance. Therefore a meal will have 2. 6g of salt which is 54% of your Daily Allowance, and this is just one of your daily meals and yet you have taken in 54% of your daily allowance. As you can see the health risks are very bad. McDonalds have tried to make a healthier menu but the fact is people love the taste of their burgers, and reducing the salt content can have a monumental effect on the taste. Another Major debate is the meat used within Beef burgers. In recent times there has been a major controversy about Horse meat [5]. Horse Meat has been found in Beef Burgers at Various stores such as Tesco, Burger king etc†¦ These Companies have made Customers afraid of Beef Burgers as they do not know the true ingredients. This issue is big because Tesco was feeding Horse meat to customers without the customer knowing. To make things worse Tesco and other Supermarkets also have traces of Pork within their Beef Burgers, this is a mega breach of trust as people from a Muslim Household are prohibited from eating Pork. Doing this Tesco and other super markets have affected all types of people. McDonalds major Competitor Burger King has also been selling Beef/Horse Burgers, this has ruined the reputation of Burger King, and it has also made people wary of most Fast food stores, as they are not sure what kind of meat is in their products. The Implications of Fast Food are both good and bad; the good part is that it is fast and convenient. The food itself is also made to be a quality meal, for a small price tag. The bad part of Fast food has already been spoken about, health risks. McDonalds need to create even more variety when it comes to healthy meals, as the burgers are still favourable they need to make healthy meals more competitive. Environmental Implications Global Warming is a huge issue. All people in the world contribute to Global warming, even breathing contributes towards it. Global warming is the melting of the polar icecaps, this raises the sea level which means sea level countries will soon be under water. The destruction of the Ozone layer is another issue, if the ozone layer is destroyed then the suns rays will be at full strength which means ultra violet radiation will increase causing a high increase in skin cancer. Businesses have been warned about this and are expected to reduce their energy consumption; they can do this by finding an alternative power source. McDonalds spends millions on energy and water. But money is not the issue, the environment is seeing a major decline, McDonalds have tried to counter this by finding and alternative energy source for their stores. So far they have only got one which is in America, this store uses geothermal energy to heat the store and light it. McDonalds use a lot of packaging; it was smart of them to switch to recycled packaging as this helped the environment. They should tell their customers how important Recycling is. Recycling [6] is the process of reusing paper, glass etc†¦ It is an essential part of our eco system as it saves trees from being cut down, this means more oxygen in the air, which helps the planet in various ways, such as prolonging our resources, this helps cut down Global Warming. Food Production also contributes to Global warming, as they use machinery to produce it, this increases their carbon footprint, taking the size of McDonalds into account it would be hard to acquire the figure of their carbon foot print, but we can assume that it is a very large amount, McDonalds is doing various things to reduce it (environmental projects). Global warming is also very dangerous now as its melting away the homes of various animals such as Polar Bears, the species is in danger because of this. Companies need to cut down on the use of energy to save these animals, and to prolong the life of the Earth Corporate Implications Corporate implications are related to ethics. There are rules and regulations put into place for businesses to follow. These rules are to ensure companies act ethically. McDonalds is doing a great service to the UK as they provide lots of money to government (through tax) they also promote healthy eating, some say this is ironic as they sell fast food, but they are minimising the effect of the ethical issue that is Fast food. Staff at McDonalds needs to know how to act ethically, McDonalds can train staff to do this. McDonalds have been subject to some ethical issue e. g. Hong Kong director arrested for accepting bribes. McDonalds manages need to ensure they comply by the rules put into place to protect both businesses and customers. They must Ensure their legal patents are taken seriously, what i mean by this is the use of their name and logo. Small businesses sometimes copy the brand image of McDonalds as it helps bring in customers due to the customer thinking the store is part of the renowned restaurant. McDonalds has patented their logo to ensure other businesses and competitors can’t use their logo in a professional manner. They have also patented all their products meaning people can’t use the same recipe to make their products. They’ve also patented the names of each product e. g. Big Mc. In doing this they have ensured people can’t copy their brand. Sources [1] http://jacksonville. com/news/crime/2012-05-01/story/jacksonville-police-arrest-2-state-inspectors-restaurant-bribery-sting [2] http://www. chinacsr. com/en/2007/08/14/1599-mcdonalds-executive-arrested-for-taking-bribes-in-hong-kong/ [3] http://www. ethicsscoreboard. com/list/sony2. html [4] http://www. mcdonalds. co. uk/ukhome/more-food/savers-menu. html [5] http://www. telegraph. co. uk/earth/agriculture/supermarkets/9844352/Horse-meat-scandal-Now-Tesco-and-other-supermarkets-admit-to-pork-traces-in-beef-burgers. html [6] http://www. benefits-of-recycling. com/whyisrecyclingimportant/.