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Sunday, March 31, 2019

Application of ANN Model

Application of ANN Model4.0. Introduction In this chapter, the results of ANN pretendingling argon discussed through and through performance parameters, time series plotting and presentation through tables. Before the occupation of ANN impersonate, statistical analytic thinking of data ar d iodine. It is discussed earlier that the selection of admit commentary combination from the available data is the crucial step of the pose development process. Five different types of input changeable selection (IVS) techniques were utilized and twenty six input combinations were prep bed base on the IVS techniques which be discussed in section 4.2. Fin all toldy, results of four ANN exemplifications argon discussed sensation by unrivaled. Firstly, the fly the coop forward neural network model were picked to predict fade out atomic number 8 of Surma River with all twenty six input combinations and compared with one a nonher. Secondly, the sensitivity abstract was done by chang ing the quantify of various(prenominal) input variants in a certain percentage. Thirdly, six crush input combinations were selected based on their performances and rest of the trine ANN models were utilized with those selected six input combinations. Finally, three best models from each ANN model were picked to compare with each otherwise. The results of statistical data summary, results of IVS, and results of ANN models leave be discussed in this chapter chronologically.4.1. Statistical Analysis of Data Statistical parameters are very important components to understand the variability of a data coterie which is prerequisite of any modeling works.This study used some elemental statistical parameters i.e. minimum, maximum, dream up, standard going away (SD) and coefficient of variability (CV) as defined to a lower placeWhere, N is the total number of samples, is the irrigate feeling data, is the arithmetic mean of that particular data series. The summary of analysis is represented in remit 4.1. Standard Deviation (SD) steers the variation in data set, where littler time value represents the data is close together, while larger value denotes wide public exposure of data set. The SD of dependent variable ( variant) showed relatively small value with deference to other parameters. But sometimes its difficult to understand variability tho by SD value. Thus, coefficient of variability (CV) was used in this study for clear accord of variability. Value of CV for BOD displayed larger variation (75%) that represents huge quantities of untreated waste piss was dumping from various point and nonpoint sources into this river during sample collection. All case-by-case variables (remaining 14 parameters) also showed an enormous variation in CV value (8% to 144%). Such variability might be happened due to geographic variations in climate and seasonal inuences in the study region. pH showed lowest variation and it whitethorn happen due to the buffering capacity of the river. hold over 4. 1 Basic Statistics i.e. minimum (min), maximum (max), mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) of the measured water type variables for a period of three years (January, 2010-December, 2012) in Surma River, Sylhet, Bangladesh.VariableMinMaxMeanStd.CV (%)Phosphate (mg/l)0.013.790.530.70132Nitrates (mg/l)0.184.01.531.0569 carbon dioxide (mg/l)8.012732.6620.9964Alkalinity (mg/l)2119559.3430.5651TS (mg/l)55947292.2165.6957TDS (mg/l)10522142.3102.1572pH5.78.256.920.558Hardness (mg/l)452621194336SO4-3 (mg/l)2.033.1010.686.8264BOD (mg/l)0.617.33.792.8675turbidness (NTU)4.1842.6211.847.3762K (mg/l)1.4735.225.455.75106Zinc (mg/l)0.10.520.190.0947Iron (mg/l)0.096.090.480.69144DO (mg/l)1.917.305.402.45454.2 Results of input variable selection It is mentioned earlier that selection of allow input variables is one of the most crucial steps in the development of schmaltzy neural network models. The selection of high number of input variables may contain some irrelevant, redundant, and noisy variables might be included in the data set (Noori et al., 2010). However, on that point could be some meaningful variables which may provide important information. Therefore, reduction of input variables or selection of admit input variables is needed. There are so many IVS techniques available much(prenominal) as genetic algorithm, Akaike information criteria, partial mutual information, Gamma mental test (GT), factor analysis, principal component analysis, forward selection, backward selection, wholeness variable regression, part ostentation factor, Pearsons correlation and so on. In this research, five IVS techniques much(prenominal) as factor analysis, disagreement inflation factors, and hit(a) variable -ANN, item-by-item variable regression, and Pearsons correlation (PC) are utilized to reclaim break through appropriate input combinations. The explanation of five selected IVS techniques are explained wi th the respective input combinations.4.2.1. factor in Analysis cypher analysis is a order used to symbolise the mutation of a large dataset of inter correlated variables with a smaller set of independent variables. At the initial stage, the feasibility study was carried out for the input variables used in this study was done by KMO indicant and correlation parameter matrix. The data are suitable for factor analysis if KMO index is greater than 0.5 and correlation coefficient is higher than 0.3. According to turn off 4.1, the data are feasible for factor analysis as the KMO index of all data is plant as 0.720 (greater than 0.5) and a null hypothesis (p=0.000) indicates a significant correlation amid the variables. Moreover, from shelve 4.2, many of the correlation coefficient (Pearsons) between water quality parameters are greater than 0.3 which also confirms the feasibility of water quality parameters for factor analysis. Table 4.3 describes the eigenvalues for the factor analysis with percent variance and cumulative variance. To find out the number of efficient factor, factors with Eigen values 1.5 are considered for ANN model. The scree plot of Eigenvalues are illustrated in Figure 4.2. As find in Figure 4.1, the Eigen values are in descending rear and a drop after 2nd factor confirms the existence of at least two main factors.Table 4.2 Coefficient of KMO and Bartlett test resultsKaiser-Meyer-Olkin quantity of Sampling Adequacy0.720Bartletts Test of SphericityApprox. Chi-Square533.3Df.78.00Sig.0.000Normally, factors having steeper slope are good for analysis whereas factors with low slope have less clash on the analysis. The first two factors cover 64.607% of total variance (Table 4.4). The results of rotate factor loading apply Varimax method are tabulated in Table 4.5. The results indicated that the first factor is carbon dioxide, Alkalinity and K+, which are the most influential water quality parameter for Surma River. However, hardness, total solid (TS), Fe and total dissolved solid (TDS) are grouped in the second factor.Figure 4.1 astragal plot of eigenvalues of the Surma RiverTable 4.4 Individual eigenvalues and the cumulative variance of water quality observations in the Surma RiverFactorsEigen Values% sectionCumulative Variance %13.80029.22729.22721.83914.14743.37431.55311.94755.32141.2079.28664.60750.9977.66872.27560.8026.17278.44770.6454.96583.41280.6394.91488.32690.4423.40091.727100.3312.54894.275110.3042.34196.615Table 4.5 Rotated factors loading for water quality observations in the Surma River using a Vartimax method120.2411.85598.470130.1991.530100.000FactorNO3pH carbon dioxideAlk.Hard.TSBODTur.K+FeTDSPO4-301.070.173.791.876.238.273-.178.443.859-.038.079.17902.133-.22-.004.143.702.797.007.141.176.621.787.16503.789-.41-.050-.13.107-.25.152-.526-.010.114-.135.61304.156.737-.199-.057-.283.117.613.287-.079.416-.162.170Phosphate and process are grouped in factor 3 whereas pH, BOD, Fe are grouped in factor 4. In this research, the variables in the first, second, third and twenty-five percent factor are named as the M16, M17, M18 and M19 respectively. All the model names on with their respective variables are tabulated in Table 4.6.Table 4.6 results of factor analysis with their respective inputsModelInput VariablesFA Icarbonic acid gas+ Alkalinity + K+FA IIHardness + TS + Fe + TDSFA IIINO3+ PO4 -3FA IVpH + BOD4.2.2. Variance Inflation FactorThe variance inflation factor (VIF) is a method which measure the multi-collinearity in a regression analysis. In this study, variance inflation factors (VIF) were utilized to find appropriate inputs for the proposed model. The performances of VIF are tabulated in Table 4.7. It is found that, the VIF value is not that much satisfactory for all the variables. However, alkalinity, potassium, total solids and inorganic phosphate show quite a good result. To prepare some effective input combination for the ANN model, alkalinity was preferred for th e model first and all the variables were added one by one. Moreover, only alkalinity is individually not considered in the model as the SV-ANN shows a weak performance for alkalinity (Table 22222). Eleven input combinations were prepared based on the VIF value which is shown in Table 4.8.Table 4.7 Result of variance inflation factor for individual variablesInput CombinationVIFAlkalinity (mg/l)3.180K+ (mg/l)2.847TS (mg/l)2.628PO43- (mg/l)2.070CO2 (mg/l)2.036TDS (mg/l)1.997pH1.898Hardness (mg/l)1.820turbidness (NTU)1.696Fe (mg/l)1.290BOD (mg/l)1.177NO3 (mg/l)1.175Table 4.8 Results of variance inflation factor (VIF) with their respective inputsModelInput CombinationsVIF-IAlkalinity + K+VIF-IIAlkalinity + K+ TSVIF-IIIAlkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3VIF-IVAlkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2VIF-VAlkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDSVIF-VIAlkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS+ pHVIF-VIIAlkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS+ pH+ HardVIF-VIIIAlkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS+ pH+ Hard+ Tur.VIF-IXAlkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS+ pH+ Hard + Tur. + FeVIF-XAlkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2 +TDS+ pH+ Hard + Tur. + Fe + BODVIF-XIAlkalinity +K+TS+PO4-3+CO2+TDS+pH+Hard+Tur. +Fe + BOD + NO34.2.3. Pearsons correlation coefficientIt is not always true that all the variables should contribute to simulate the value of other parameters. Some variables can have a very good human relationship with other, some may have weak connection. Pearson correlation is an effective plectron to understand the relationship with one variable to another. While modelling DO value for the Surma River, it is important to select the variables to have positive relationship with one another. For this reason, a Pearson correlation was prepared which is tabulated in Table 4.3. It is found that there are 4 different types of data combinations which have positive and significant relationship with each other as tabulated in Table 4.9.Table 4.9 Input combinations using Pearson correlationModelInput CombinationsPC IAlkalinity + TD S+ PO4-3+CO2+K+PC IIpH + Hardness + TurbidityPC IIIAlkalinity + Hardness+ TS+CO2+K+PC IVHardness+ TS+ K+ TurbidityPC VHardness+ TS+ Fe +TDSPC VITS + Turbidity + Fe +TDS + K+4.2.4. SV-ANNThe performance of single variable artificial neural network was also done to find out appropriate input variables for the proposed model. All the individual variables are singly trained, tested and validated. During utilization of SV-ANN, only correlation coefficient (R) is considered to select the appropriate variables. The performances of SV-ANN are tabulated in Table 4.10 for testing, training and validation array. From the analysis, it is found that the individual variables show a weak performance. Only TS and BOD perform better study with other variables. The SV-ANN with TS shows a correlation coefficient of 0.596, 0.600 and 0.700 for testing, training, and validation phases respectively. Moreover, the respective correlation coefficient (R) for SV-ANN model with BOD are found as 0.578, 0.574 and 0.652 for testing, training and validation. However, turbidity, carbon di oxide, phosphate and nitrate have quite good relations with DO. As individual variables did not provide significant result, the variables are not considered in the ANN model individually. BOD and TS have quite wellTable 4.10 the correlation coefficient (R) for single variable ANN and single variable MLRVariablesPhaseSV-ANNSV-MLRRRPO43- (mg/l) test0.4390.115Training0.549 ecesis0.440NO3 (mg/l) testing0.2110.148Training0.311 brass0.112pHexamination0.2340.087Training0.201Validation0.432CO2 (mg/l) test0.3910.057Training0.453Validation0.514Alkalinity (mg/l)Testing0.2220.200Training0.211Validation0.099Hardness (mg/l)Testing0.1390.089Training0.649Validation0.155TS (mg/l)Testing0.5960.199Training0.600Validation0.700BOD (mg/l)Testing0.5780.100Training0.574Validation0.652Turbidity (NTU)Testing0.4310.183Training0.583Validation0.398K+ (mg/l)Testing0.1110.046Training0.543Validation0.219Fe (mg/l)Testing0.2170.002Training 0.210Validation0.306TDS (mg/l)Testing0.2220.084Training0.345Validation0.245relations with DO so they are grouped in one model (SV-ANN I) and turbidity, carbon di oxide, phosphate and nitrate are grouped in another one (SV-ANN II). The input variables utilizing SV-ANN is tabulated in Table 4.11.4.3.5. SV-MLRLike the performances of single variable ANN model, SV-MLR with all the input individual variables show weak performance. Moreover, variables comparable alkalinity, nitrates, total solid and turbidity show good result comparatively. The performances of SV-MLR are tabulated in Table 4.10. It is found that, alkalinity and TS show quite good results compare with other variables and hence they are grouped together (SV-MLR I). Another model (SV-MLR II) was prepared using all the variables with correlation coefficient more than 0.200. The input variables using SV-MLR model are tabulated in table 4.12.Table 4.11 results of single variable artificial neural network with their respective inputsModelInput VariablesSV-ANN-ITS + BODSV-ANN-IITS + BOD+ PO4-3+ CO2+TurbidityTable 4.12 results of single variable aggregate linear regression with their respective inputsModelInput VariablesSV- MLR IAlkalinity + TSSV-MLR IIAlkalinity + TS + Turbidity + NO3ModelIVS TypeInput VariablesM1PC IAlkalinity + TDS+ PO4-3+ CO2 +K+M2P

Comparative Genomics Research Benefits

relative Genomics Research BenefitsABSTRACTThe rapidly uphill field of comparative genomics has yielded dramatic results. Comparative genome analysis has become pr conducticable with the handiness of a function of only sequenced genomes. Comparison of complete genomes in the midst of organisms allow for global views on genome evolution and the availability of umpteen completely sequenced genomes increases the predictive power in deciphering the hidden selective information in genome design, get going and evolution. Thus, proportion of homophile constituents with genes from other genomes in a genomic landscape could jockstrap assign novel functions for un-an nonated genes. Here, we question the latterly intaked techniques for comparative genomics and their derived inferences in genome biology.INTRODUCTIONComparative genomics is the study of the relationship of genome structure and function crosswise several(predicate) biological species or strains. Comparative genomi cs is an attempt to take favour of the information provided by the signatures of cream to understand the function and evolutionary processes that act on genomes. While it is still a young field, it holds great cartel to yield insights into many aspects of the evolution of modern species. The sheer amount of information contained in modern genomes (750 megabytes in the case of homophiles) necessitates that the regularitys of comparative genomics ar automated. ingredient playing is an important application of comparative genomics, as is disc everyplacey of bare-ass, non-coding in operation(p) particles of the genome.Human FOXP2 gene and evolutionary saving is shown in a sevenfold alignment (at bottom of figure) in this image from the UCSC Genome Browser. Note that conservation tends to clomp around coding roles (exons).Comparative genomics exploits both similarities and differences in the proteins, RNA, and regulative regions of different organisms to infer how selecti on has acted upon these elements. Those elements that be responsible for similarities between different species should be conserve through time (stabilizing selection), while those elements responsible for differences among species should be different (positive selection). Finally, those elements that are unimportant to the evolutionary success of the organism will be unconserved (selection is neutral).SCOPE OF COMPARATIVE GENOMICS wiz of the important goals of the field is the identification of the mechanisms of eukaryotic genome evolution. It is however often complicated by the multiplicity of events that consider interpreted place throughout the history of individual lineages, leaving only falsify and superimposed traces in the genome of each living organism. For this reason comparative genomics studies of subaltern moulding organisms (for example yeast) are of great importance to advance our grounds of general mechanisms of evolution.Having come a coarse way from its in itial custom of determination functional proteins, comparative genomics is now concentrating on finding restrictive regions and siRNA molecules. Recently, it has been notice that distantly related species often share long conserved stretches of deoxyribonucleic acid that do not appear to placeon for any protein. One such ultra-conserved region, that was stable from chicken to chimp has undergone a sudden fit of change in the human lineage, and is found to be active in the developing brain of the human embryo.Computational approaches to genome comparison stick recently become a common research topic in computing machine science. A public collection of case studies and demonstrations is growing, ranging from whole genome comparisons to gene fount analysis. This has increased the introduction of different ideas, including concepts from systems and control, information theory, strings analysis and info mining. It is anticipated that computational approaches will become and r emain a arche casing topic for research and teaching, while multiple courses will begin reading students to be fluent in both topic.Chromosomes from two genomes are drawn human chromosome 1 (drawn with a global zoom factor of 50x) and abstract chromosomes 1-19, X, and Y with mouse chromosome 3 drawn enlarged 10-fold. Syntenic regions between human chromosome 1 and the mouse genome are connected by faded curves (A), whose geometry and properties burn be adjusted dynamically. Thus, all syntenic relationships with mouse chromosome 4 are coloured in orange (B), and all relationships falling within the 80-90 Mb region on human chromosome 1 are coloured in profane (C). separate relationships with alignments larger than 5 kb are coloured Stygian in grey (D) and all others are shown in light grey. The lines are drawn layered with light grey lines below all others, past dark grey, then blue and then orange. Although approximately 44,000 syntenic relationships are drawn, the use of a selective colour scheme maintains legibility. The outer track (E) is a histogram of the log density of syntenic regions over 100 kb windows on human chromosomeGENOMES ARE MADE OFAlthough living creatures look and behave in many different ways, all of their genomes consist of DNA, the chemical chain that makes up the genes that code for thousands of different kinds of proteins. Precisely which protein is produced by a given gene is driven by the sequence in which four chemical building blocks ampere (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G) are laid out along DNAs double-helix structureBENEFITS OF COMPARATIVE GENOMICSUsing computer-based analysis to zero in on the genomic features that have been preserved in multiple organisms over millions of years, researchers will be able to pinpoint the signals that control gene function, which in turn should turn in into innovative approaches for treating human disease and improving human health.In step-up to its implications for hu man health and swell up-being, comparative genomics whitethorn benefit the animal adult male as well. As sequencing technology grows easier and less expensive, it will likely find wide applications in agriculture, biotechnology and zoology as a tool to tease apart the often-subtle differences among animal species. Such efforts might also possibly lead to the rearrangement of our understanding of some branches on the evolutionary tree, as well as point to new strategies for conserving rare and endangered species.Comparative Genomics Goals stark(a) the sequence of the roundworm C. elegans genome by 1998.Complete the sequence of the fruit take flight Drosophila genome by 2002.Develop an integrated physical and genetic map for the mouse, generate superfluous mouse cDNA resources, and complete the sequence of the mouse genome by 2008. line other useful model organisms and support appropriate genomic studies.METHODLOGYGenome correspondenceGenome correspondence, the method of determin ing the correct correspondence of chromosomal segments and functional elements across the species compared is the starting line step in comparative genomics. This involves determining orthologous (genes diverged aft(prenominal) a speciation event) segments of DNA that descend from the same region in the common ancestor of the species compared, and paralogous (genes diverged after a duplication event) regions that arose by duplication events prior to the divergence of the species compared. The subprogram of regions across two genomes roll in the hay be one-to-one in absence seizure of duplication events one-tomany if a region has undergone duplication or loss in one of the species, or many-to-many if duplication/loss has occurred in both lineages. fitch et al., developed a method called BBH (Best Bidirectional Hits), which identifies gene pairs that are crush matches of each other as orthologous. Tatusov et al., further enhanced this method, which matches groups of genes to grou ps of genes.Understanding the seam of the functional elements compared is central to our understanding and applications of genome comparison. Most comparative methods have centre on one-to-one orthologous regions, but it is equally important to recognize which segments have undergone duplication events, and which segments were lost since the divergence of the species. Comparing segments that arose before the divergence of the species may result in the wrong interpretations of sequence conservation and divergence. Further, in the comportment of gene duplication, some of the evolutionary constraints that a region is under are relieved, and uniform models of evolution no longer capture the underlying selection for these sites. Thus, our methods for determining gene correspondence should account for duplication and loss events, and visit that the segments we compare are orthologousApplications ingredient identificationOnce genome correspondence is established, comparative genomics can aid gene identification. Comparative genomics can recognize very genes based on their patterns of nucleotide conservation across evolutionary time. With the availability of genome-wide alignments across the genomes compared, the different ways by which sequences change in know genes and in intergenic regions can be analyzed. The alignments of known genes will reveal the conservation of the reading frame of protein translation.The genome of a species encodes genes and other functional elements, interspersed with non-functional nucleotides in a single uninterrupted string of DNA. Recognizing protein-coding genes typically relies on finding stretches of nucleotides dissolve of stop codons (called Open Reading Frames, or ORFs) that are too long to have likely occurred by chance. Since stop codons occur at a frequency of roughly 1 in 20 in hit-or-miss sequence, ORFs of at least 60 amino acids will occur ofttimes by chance (5% under a simple Poisson model), and even ORFs of one hu ndred fifty amino acids will appear by chance in a large genome (0.05%). This poses a huge challenge for juicyer eukaryotes in which genes are typically broken into many, small exons (on average 125 nucleotides long for sexual exons) in mammals. The basic problem is distinguishing real genes those ORFs encoding a translated protein result from spurious ORFs the remaining ORFs whose presence is simply due to chance. In mammalian genomes, estimates of hypothetical genes have ranged from 28,000 to more than 120,000 genes. The internal coding exons were easily determine using Comparative analysis of human genome with mouse genome.Regulatory musical theme discoveryRegulatory papers are short DNA sequences about 6 to 15bp long that are used to control the expression of genes, dictating the conditions under which a gene will be turned on or off. separately motif is typically recognized by a unique(predicate) DNA- concealment protein called a transcription factor (TF). A transcri ption factor binds precise sites in the promoter region of target genes in a sequence-specific way, but this hand can tolerate some degree of sequence variation. Thus, different binding sites may contain slight variations of the same underlying motif, and the definition of a restrictive motif should capture these variations while remaining as specific as possible. Comparative genomics provides a powerful way to distinguish regulatory motifs from non-functional patterns based on their conservation. One such example is the identification of TF DNA-binding motif using comparative genomics and denovo motif. The regulatory motifs of the Human Promoters were determine by comparison with other mammals.Yet another important finding is the gene and regulatory element by comparison of yeast species.Applications of comparative genomics to wheatA number of important major traits requiring elucidation in wheat are basically non-polymorphic. Thus there is no prospect of creating a mapping pe ople which is the starting point of all positional cloning strategies in to the highest degree species to date. Moreover given the surface of the wheat genome, many traits lie in regions where the gene density per BAC is one or two, making it difficult if not impossible to walk from one wheat BAC to the next. The Ph1 locus (controlling chromosome pairing in wheat) is one such example, in which the starting point was wild type wheat and a mutant carrying a deletion of more than 70Mb (almost the size of the whole Arabidopsis genome). Its phenotype is not easy to score. My group wished to characterise this locus. We created trine different types of mutagenised populations, sequenced the equivalent rice Ph1 region, create BAC libraries (all are now visible(prenominal) free of IP) for Brachypodium (a small genome species more closely related to wheat), sequenced Brachypodium Ph1 equivalent region, built a hexaploid (CS) (737,000 clones) wheat in collaboration with INRA (providing a further 500,000 clones), utilize Jorge Dubcovskys Tetraploid wheat BAC library, sequenced wheat BACs and defined the tissues in which the Ph1 phenotype is expressed. I will discuss the approaches adopted and resources created.Application of comparative genomics to the analysis of vertebrate regulatory elementsGene regulatory regions (also known as cis-regulatory modules) in vertebrates are poorly understand and annotated by comparison with protein-coding sequences. The short and degenerate sequences of regulatory elements and their distribution over large intergenic and intronic regions pose a major challenge to genomics scientists. Comparative genomics can be used to identify putative regulatory regions, and to analyse regulatory regions into their constituent transcription factor binding sites. There is need for high throughput assay systems to analyse the function of predicted vertebrate gene regulatory regionsOther applicationsComparative genomics has wide applications in the field of molecular medication and molecular evolution. The most significant application of comparative genomics in molecular medicine is the identification of drug targets of many infectious diseases. For example, comparative analyses of fungal genomes have led to the identification of many putative targets for novel antifungal. This discovery can aid in target based drug design to retrieve fungal diseases in human. Comparative analysis of genomes of individuals with genetic disease against bouncing individuals may reveal clues of eliminating that disease.Comparative genomics helps in selecting model organisms. A model system is a simple, idealized system that can be accessible and easily manipulated. For example, a comparison of the fruit fly genome with the human genome discovered that about 60 percent of genes are conserved between fly and human. Researchers have found that two-thirds of human genes known to be involved in cancer have counterparts in the fruit fly. Even more surprisingly, when scientists inserted a human gene associated with early-onset Parkinsons disease into fruit flies, they displayed symptoms similar to those seen in universe with the disorder, raising the possibility that the tiny insects could serve as a new model for testing therapies aimed at Parkinsons. Thus, comparative genomics may provide gene functional annotation. Gene finding is an important application of comparative genomics. Comparative genomics identify Synteny (genes present in the same order in the genomes) and and so reveal gene clusters.Comparative genomics also helps in the clustering of regulatory sites, which can help in the recognition of unknown regulatory regions in other genomes. The metabolic pathway regulation can also be recognized by means of comparative genomics of a species. Dmitry and colleagues have identified the regulons of methionine metabolism in gram-positive bacteria using comparative genomics analysis. likewise Kai Tan and colleagues have identified regulatory networks of H. influenzae by comparing its genome with that of E. coli. The accommodative properties of organisms like evolution of sex, gene silencing can also be agree to genome sequence by comparative genomics.CONCLUSIONThe most unexpected finding in comparing the mouse and human genomes lies in the similarities between cast out DNA, mostly retro-transposons, (transposons copied from mRNA by reverse transcriptase) in the two species. A survey of the location of retrotransposon DNA in both species shows that it has independently cease up in comparable regions of the genome. Thus junk DNA may have more of a function than was previously assumed. High carrying out computing tools help in comparing huge genomes. Because of its wide applications and feasibility, mechanisation of comparing genomics is possible. Such Comparisons can aid in predicting the function of many hypothetical proteins.REFERENCESen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative genomicswww.ncbi.nlm.ni h.govwww.springer.com

Identifying the Pharmacological Properties of Unknown Drugs

Identifying the Pharmacological Properties of Un cognize DrugsThe audition aimed to establish the pharmacological attri simplyes of drug (B2) which is relatively unmapped to some people. A more important thing to consider is the heart of Ant admireric in blocking the way outs of B2. whatever early(a) thing of utmost value is the motion which tries to explain whether the accomplishments and usefulness of B2 goat actually be replicated in other drugs. It is paramount to understand that B2 is a drug which brings side military issue as a matter of inter challenge with the digestive inwardness from Pseudo-Cholinesterase. a nonher(prenominal) area of interest is the hindering of b2 personal effects by the introduction of an inhibitor known as cholinesterase it is not clear whether it can actually hinder the capability effect of. The receptor occurrenceor of B2 is also considered important.IntroductionThere hold out 2 categories of pharmaceutical drugs protagonist and opposer. Agonist drugs acts on the principle that it binds itself to the receptor substance of the respective cell. Normally agonists exists in form of hormones or neurons a fact that makes them very popular in the human body. In this scenario the unknown B2 drug belongs to the agonist category. On the other hand opposers operate on the reverse principle of the agonists in that they tend to block the receptors. In methodicalness to evaluate and asses the pharmacological properties of B2 it is vital to examine two unique properties capacity and dominance. Efficacy refers to the overall capacity of a drug to produce the want effects. Potency on its part refers to the level of reaction that is generated by a drug. The postgraduateer the potency the lower the solvent level of a special(prenominal) drug. For instance in order to generate a 50% reception value, the dosage of the drug being administered needs to quite high.The look into is make up of two searching phases phas e2 and phase3. Phase2 focused on establishing the effect of administering a discriminating antagonist dosage on the two substances chlorphenamine and Atropine. As a result Atropine appeared to be block primarily because it is exhibit antagonistic attributes towards muscurinic and nicotinic receptors. On the other hand chorphenamine appeared to inhibit the effects of histamine more because it blocks autocoid histamine receptors remain blocked. In order to determine the blockage effect of B2 it was necessary to thoroughly tribulation the discriminating dosage. This pull up stakes allows for easier identification of the actual receptors which not works with B2 but those that blocks it affects. Another aspect examined in phase2 is related with how other agonists mimic the effect of B2. In this case it was vital to evaluate and compare the behavior of log- do drugs curves with the repair aim of deriving twain(prenominal) the efficacy and the potency set.Phase 3 askd the use of pseudocholiesterase from sawhorse blood and an esterase inhibitor known as physostigmine. Cholinesterase action involves hydrolyzing the ester bond rig in acetylcholine. Basically there exists two categories of cholinesterase acetyl-cholinesterase and pseudo-cholinesterase. Another substance used in this phase is carbachol which is quite a resistant to the effect of esterase digestion. This office that its presence is used to protect or inhibit the digestion of acetycholine, histamine and B2. In extension an interaction between an antagonist like physostigmine and agonist substance provide result in an outgrowth in ED50. In some cases this can be attributed to the ever increasing besottedial of grugs by mevery people.MethodsAn organ bath is initially setup in presence of an ileum wander from a guinea pig. Prior to use the wind, a Petri dish is premiere filled with ringer solution and therefore subjected to oxygen supply. It is paramount to timber that the tissue lacks whatsoever spontaneous patterns but rather it is characterized by condensations. The ileum tissue contains substances such(prenominal) as 5Ht, H1, nicotinic and muscurinic receptors. These substances are easily affected by contraction. In addition ileum tissue experience relaxation probably cod to the fact that it lacks twain beta and alpha receptors.In order to produce just result the tissue required to be attached to a transducer victimization a threading string. Additionally this tissue was submerged in ringers solution at a room temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. In a normal scenario the addition of an agonist may cause the ileum to contract this strain would be amplified by the transducer, which would then record the trace of solution on a computer. Each test was preceded by a complete swosh out of the drug. Oxygen supply needs to quite constant in order to sustain the life of the cell. Data from the races is used to plot the interpretical record which shows the behav ior of each agonist in chemical reaction to the effect of log- pane of glass.ResultsFor B2 enlace with Chlorphenamine 1 in snow00 dilutions Emax was 98/% slice ED50 was 1.0X10-6M.For B2 laced with atropine 1 in 5000 dilutions, Emax and ED50 were 4.4 x 10-6 and 72% respectively.It is evident that competitive hostility was dominant. It is as a result of Atropine blocking specific masculine receptors. It convey that B2 is a cholinergic agonist, which might be either acetylcholine or Carbachol. caricature effectB2 Gave an Emax value of 90% and an ED50 value of 1.44 x 10-6M. The set for Acetylcholine were 60% and ED50 value of3.1 x 10 -6 M. up to now. Carbachol gave a high efficacy ascorbic acid% Emax value and an ED50 value of 3.0 x 10-6M. Additionally Histamine gave Emax and ED50 50% and4.4 x 10 -6M respectively. The lowest point was recorded while using Serotonin which had an ED50 value of 7.5 x 10-6 and an Emax value of 21%.Acetylcholine in the presence of physostigmineTthe Emax was 100% and the ED50 1.310-7 while Carbacho was 98.4% Emax and ED501.710-6. However in the presence of physostigmine EMAX was 100% and the ED50 was 6.010-7.ConclusionBoth the mimicry graphs of B2 and Carbachol exhibits similar characteristics hence the corresponding ED50 values Despite this there is no enough turn up to establish what on the nose what the receptors acts on. When antagonistic atropine was used the ED50 of the respective B2 was considerably inhibitd. This mainly occurred at twain the discriminating and good dosage levels. It can be concluded that B2 and then acted on cholinergic receptors. This is given more strength by the annex in ED50 reduction in potency level. To get even more definite results chlorphenamine was used as the sole histaminergic antagonist. Results indicated that both the effective and selective panelling of Chlorphenamine had no antagonistic effect on B2. Additionally the potency did not reduce. It is evident that emailprotected doe s not in any way acts on histaminergic receptors. frankincense it is prudent to argue that B2 does indeed acts upon cholinergic receptorsExperiment 2Purpose To demonstrate the pharmacological properties of unknown drug B16Experimental phases (phase 1 and phase 2) are essential in determining these properties.Key attributes investigated include selective and effective loony toons of Atropine, Atropine and B2, effective and selective dit of Chlorphenamine, Chlophenamine and B2, Mimicry of B2 , digestion by pseudo-cholinesterase on B2, apology by Physostigmine of B2, and starchyiation of B2.Acetylcholine is regarded as an acetic acid such as ester of choline. It acts on cholinergic synapses to propagate nerve impulses. Acetylcholine has high and advert potency for muscurinic and nicotinic receptors. It is also highly susceptible to breakdown by cholinesterase. Carbachol which is is agonist of the muscurinic and nicotinic receptors is more potent on nicotinic receptors. In addition it is not miser fitting down by Cholinesterase. Health applications of Acetylcholine includes but not limited to the treatment of Glaucoma.Its treatment remedy is based on the contraction principle causes contraction of circular muscle in the eye leading to an increase in output of aqueous humour.Obtained from Atropa belladonna also known as deadly nightshade, Atropine which is alkaloid in nature serves to block the cholinergic receptors. Medical applications of Atropine involve dilation of the pupil which is most common during examinations of the eyes. Another substance Chlorphenamine is rather antihistamine in nature and then it blocks histamine receptors. It clinical uses involve the treatment of hypersensitized reactions such as itching. (Youngson, 1999) Physostigmine is regarded as being one of those substances that tends to bring reversible cholinesterase inhibition. Since Physostigmine normally interferes with the breakdown of Acetylcholine , its overall effects is sign ificantly ppextended. Major medical examination use encompasses the boosting of the muscle tone of people with Myasthenia Gravis (Youngson, 1999).Effective dose of atropineThe purpose of the first essay was to identify the effective dose of Atropine. lead doses of atropine were added to Acetylcholine Acetylcholine with atropine 1/ gravitational constant, Acetylcholine with atropine 1/10000 and Acetylcholine with atropine 1/5000. The three concentrations of atropine (1.4 x 10-10M, 2.88 x 10-10M and 1.4 x 10-11M) were first carried out on both carbachol and acetylcholine. The three specimens showed a sacking in the dose response curves to the right. This makes the drugs to appear to be below potent as they tend to increase their ED50 values. The results prove that both acetylcholine and carbachol are blocked by atropine. After sight results from graphs used in the experiment, it is evident that there is a distinct incline in all the dose response curves to the right. This helps t o lower the potency of the drug at all concentrations.Selective dose AtropineThe aim of this section of experiment is to establish whether the effective dose of Atropine is also a selective dose. In this case histamine was titrated with the three concentrations of atropine to identify if histamine is actually blocked antagonist. In a normal scenario histamine ought not to be antagonized by atropine. Instead there should not be a significant swag in the dose response curve or reduction in potency. However at high dose concentration, atropine can indirectly block histamine.To analyze the selective dose of atropine, three different concentrations of atropine were used on histamine. The 1/5000 and 1/1000 dilutions of atropine i.e.1.4 x 10-10M and 1.4 x 10-9M became the histamine to shift to the right. This shows that high concentrations of atropine can cause an indirect antagonistic affect to histamine. Despite this, the 1.4 x 10-11M (1 in 10000 obtained was found to be 2.310-6M. Actua lly dilution does not reduce the efficacy or the potency of histamine. Additionally the dose of 1.4 x 10-11M (1/10000 dilution of atropine) does not shift histamine to the right thus retaining its ED50 value. This dose of atropine is both effective and selective for cholinergic agonist such as acetylcholine and Carbachol. It effectively blocks acetylcholine and carbochol especially when the affect on histamine is not great. Consequently the effective and selective dose for Atropine was resolved to be 1.4 x 10-11M. It means Atropine did not affect Histamine activity.Atropine and B16Aim of the experiment was to find the impact of both the effective and selective dose of Atropine (110-7M) on the unknown drug B16. The effective and the selective dose were obtained by testing different concentrations of atropine on acetylcholine, carbachol and histamine. A distinct shift in the dose response curve to the right was found when administering the 1.4 x 10-11M of atropine to unknown drug B16 there was. Therefore this dose of atropine result in drug B2 appearing to be less potent by lowering its ED50 value. It is clear that drug B2 is capable of acting upon cholinergic receptors. This is primarily because the effective and selective dose of atropine that was determined previously blocked the actions of drug B2. In effect it makes it to appear to be less potent and reducing its ED50 value. This means that Atropine was blocking cholinergic receptors, which B2 acts on. Hence it may be deduced that B2 is a cholinergic agonist, and it may be Acetylcholine, or Carbachol.Effective dose of ChlorphenamineExperiment aim was to find out an effective dose of Chlorphenamine-an antagonist of histamine receptors. An effective dose will decrease the potency of histamine however the corresponding dose should not affect the Emax of histamine. Histamine when free of antagonist Emax was 100% while ED50 was 3.510-6M. However histamine when added to Chlorphenamine 1/ 10000 dilutions an Emax became 96% and an ED50 became 1.010-5M. This means that with the lesser dose of the antagonist the efficacy will be increased, while the potency will be decreased. The remarkable shift to the right confirms a decrease in potency with only a 4% variance in Emax. This is evidence that the effective and selective dose has shifted histamines Log-dose response curve to the right thus decreasing potency.Selective dose of ChlorphenamineAcetylcholine was in two different concentrations of Atropine. Chlorphenamine on its part does not result in the shift of the graph to the right. Additionaly this shift does not result in the reduction of potency. In addition, there was a small shift of the curves to the left with the addition of Chlorphenamine which may be due to re-sensitization. On the other hand as there is no shift to the right of the dose response curves with the addition of Chlorphenamine. It will be contingent to realize that it is not antagonist towards AcetylcholineEffective and selective dose of Chlorphenamine on B2The aim of experiment was to determine whether the effective and selective dose for Chlorphenamine was able to competitively antagonise the unknown drug B2. Results indicate three combinations B2 only, B2with Chlorphenamine 1 in 10000 dilution, and B2with Chlorphenamine 1 in 5000 dilution. Consequently the display of Emaxs is 98%,92%, 100% and respectively.The respective ED50 values are 2.2 x10-6M, 1.010-5M, and 7.010-6M respectively. From the results it can be demonstrated that the effective and selective dose of Chlorphenamine did not have any considerable effect on the drug B2.This shows that B2 is not acting on the autocoid receptor H1.Mimicry of B2 with other muscurinic agonistsAims to study the mimicry effects of muscurinic agonists as healthfulas study parallel efficacy and potency of unknown shell B2. The mimicry data appears to express that B2 mimics Carbachol as it has a similar ED50 value. In essence, B2 gave ED50 90% and Emax 1.44 x 10-6M while Carbachol was ED50 100% and Emax 1.00 x 10-6M. That saids it is not enough proof to ascertain that B2 acts on receptors. The cholinergic antagonist Atropine was used because whenever it decreased the ED50 of B2 at the effective and selective dose then this would confirm the B2 acted upon cholinergic receptors. An affirmative result proved that B2 acted upon cholinergic receptors as the ED50 increased and the potency decreased. In order to confirm this, Chlorphenamine was used as a histaminergic antagonist. The effective and selective dose of Chlorphenamine had no antagonistic effect on B it failed to reduce the potency. It means that B2 does not act upon histaminergic receptors. Thus it can be concluded that drug B2 acts upon cholinergic receptorsDigestion by pseudo-cholinesterase/protection by physostigmineThe effects of Acetylcholine explain that when presented alone a 100% response is guaranteed.. In another(prenominal) perspective, Acetylcholine by pseudo-esterase gave a 0% response. However with the addition of Acetycholine, esterase, and physostigmine 95% response was acquired. Basically it means that Acetycholine is prone to the digestion by Pseudo-Cholinesterase obtained from the horses blood. Additionally it is protected from being digested by physostigmine. When carbachol was treated with both blood esterase and physostigmine each every response was almost identical tame only a 10% discrepancy. Evidently is not in any way capable of being digested into blood esterase. As a result, physostigmine is not suitable to be used to block the digestive effects of the esterase. opposite results (from graphs 1.5,1.6 and 1.7) indicate that B2 was indeed broken down by blood esterase suggesting that it is potentially digestible by the former. Indeed if blood esterase were to be added to drug B2 alone, esterase would straightway digest drug B2 reducing its reaction to approximately 0%. However when an indirect agonist such as physostigmine is used , drug B2 is capable will be able to produce a significant. One thing to line of credit is that the blood esterase virtually broke down all of drug B2. pertinent indications appear to reveal that the concentration of drug B2 is slightly low. This explains the minimal response of drug B2 to blood esterase.Another substance that was broken down and digested by blood esterase was acetylcholine. Additionally, physostigmine effectively inhibited the effects of the blood esterase on both acetylcholine and drug B2. This result helps to explain the mimicry phenomenon drug B2 mimics the procedures of acetycholine as well as acting upon the cholinergic receptors.By studying graph 1.8, there is revelation of the effects of histamine when treated with both blood esterase and physostigmine. From the data usable it is evident that all four responses appear to be quite identical with only a 5-10% discrepancy. Graph 1.7, reveals that blood esterase does not digest histamine. This means that hist amine would need physostigmine in order to block the digestive effects of the esterase.PotentiationFrom graph 1.9 it appears that physostigmine is acting as an indirect agonist towards Acetylcholine. This is because there is an obvious potentiationthe Emax leaped from 86.2% to 100% while at the same time the ED50 increased slightly with a shift left from 1.310-7M to 3.010-7MIn graph 2.0 there is no potentiation of Emax or ED50. This helps to explain the fact that physostigmine does not work as an indirect agonist towards Carbachol. In essence the Emax for both trails are almost identical the same as for ED50 which runs very closePhysostigmine raises thee Emax but fails to lower the ED50. It is manifested by the fact that physostigmine acts as an indirect agonistThere is increased level of Emax to B2 mainly due to re-sensitisation occuring through-out the experiment as well as biological variance of the tissue compendiumThe antagonist Atropine appears to act on the unknown B2 drug wh ich is associated with bringing somewhat competition for inhibition factors. The same case applies to B2 cholinergic agonist. In another analysis Chlorphenamine appears to lack proper antagonistic effect on B2. once more B2 fails to directly act on autocoid H1 receptors. From these findings it is evident that B2 is a Cholinergic Agonist. The fact that carabcol and histamine were not digested in blood esterase while acetylcholine got digested means that B2 is indded acetylcholine. The two attributes provides some of the unique agonistic properties of a pharmacological drugs.

New Product Development (NPD) Process Theory

immature harvest using (NPD) Process Theory tally to the one-dimensional view, new overlap ontogenesis (NPD) extremity nonpluss with predilections, proceed with idea screening, concept evolution and testing, market placeplaceing dodging growth, stemma abbreviation, proceeds development and test merchandising, ends when the crossing existently commercialisation and creates wealth (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011). To bridge the speculation into practice, we worked as a group to develop a new, patsyed crossing, and joint the marketing strategy to find and act as the niche market sine qua non in the UK. As an important consumer sector of FMCGs, in the flesh(predicate) cargon intersection points fix a large part of the British market, but meanwhile the emulation in this field is fierce, firms have to keep supplying new products to set up the rapidly changing admits of their customers (Trott, 2008). This report described both the NPD process surmise and our pr actice of the theory from idea generation through to assemble and roll out, and then analyzed the benefits and disadvantage of the process.New Product victimisation ProcessIdea Generation and ScreeningThe purpose of the idea generation process and idea screening process argon systematic enquiry new ideas and then reduce the good turn of ideas to spot the good ones (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011). Ideas may come from many different sources, it contains internal sources such(prenominal) as conventional research and development division and employees, and external sources such as distributors and suppliers, competitors, and customers themselves (Ritter and Gemunden, 2003). consequently a large number of ideas were created via different sources, managers need to try these ideas and check closely at the prospects in the marketplace. Although the difference of decision criteria may displace the screening of new ideas greatly (Carbomell et al., 2004 Hart et al., 2003), scholars p ropose a incorporated R-W-W framework to effectively identify capableness problems and control risks. The R-W-W framework asks threesome fundamental questions about new ideas Is the market and product real?, raise the product and our company win?, and Is the product worth doing? (Day, 2007), and the company should be able to answer all of them in the first place further development the idea. found on the idea generation and screening theory, at first our team analysis the feasibility of our new ideas and decide to choose the idea of Freshies deodorant wipe within subsisting company Unilever. Firstly, regular users of deodorant are a huge potential consumer group all over the world, and the deodorant market in the UK has a good momentum of growth. Secondly, existing deodorant wipes brands do non have a good balance amongst the scathe and quality of their production, and the main competitors of Unilever do non give to a greater extent attention to this field, which means the competition of deodorant products are less than mainstream personal plow products. Finally, Unilever is an established and reliable brand in personal care market and has great experience about relative products, thus Unilever would not face the challenge of convincing consumers that they are better than a traditionalistic deodorant, which means the cost and risk of entering the market is lower.Concept development and TestingAfter screening ideas, marketers need to embody the detail of ideas to reconcile in meaningful consumer terms, develop the idea into alternative product concepts and localise the roughly pull inive concept to customers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011). The postulateed concept also needs to be tested with some tar scotch consumers before further development. This may let in some preliminary market research to find the market need, niche, and attractive force (Page, 1993). Through the preliminary market research, it would also reveal the most undimmed fea tures of the new products and assess the purchase intent of customers (Trott, 2005).Because the brand identifies of Unilever was developed nearthe concept of adding vitality to life, we have created a concept shortlist for edifice a brand which is cost effective, relevant for all markets, convenient or healthy. At first we share the concept with our paired group to get primary advices of our product, by this we determined that our concept is to build a new, biodegradable, man-portable deodorant wipe. Then we conducted a survey of some in-store deodorant brands and evaluate their sale status. Finally, we did a market research for deodorant gross revenue at online plat manakin such as Amazon and eBay. The result of our investigation shows that although deodorant belonging to an industry that is highly saturated, wipes tin substructure open up a whole new market that has not been pe mesh topologyrated to its full potential.Therefore, our product may have strong consumer appeal if implemented properly.Marketing Strategy DevelopmentConsumer purchase behaviors are influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011). Thus marketers need to research the internal and external marketing environments before designing the sign marketing strategy for a new product. Moreover, marketers need to recognize that they cannot attract all buyers in the marketplace, thus they must divide the market into little segments and offer different strategies to the separate market. After that, marketers need to evaluate and select some suitable segments to build their market targeting. The final two glacial stages concern about how to offer superior values for the target customers and contract a differentiation with competitors. gibe to the level of customer demand, there are four levels of new product the core product, the expected product, the augmented product and the potential product (Levitt, 1986). Based on the d ifferent demand level, an reserve product positioning strategy can make the difference between success and failure (Trott, 2005). Product positioning requires marketers to arrange a clear, typical and desirable positioning in the minds of target consumers (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011). Specifically, Wind (1982) offers six bases that think to how target customers make choices in position product fields product feature, benefits, use occasion, user category, against another product or by disassociation from all the other products.To determine the best concept for our Freshies deodorant wipes, we at first use PESTLE analysis, Porters Five Forces analysis and SWOT analysis to evaluate the marketing environment. The result shows that Freshies can be mount produced as an innovative product. It has high potential for the industry and suits for the image of building a conscious society in the UK. Based on the behavioral and demographic factors, we defined that our market segmentation as 18-34 age group and users of mass deodorant. Our target market is on-the-go young adults who live busy lifestyles. Our differentiation is portable than other roll-on deodorant, thus customers can use it when they do not urgency to take their handbag, such as participate in sports or go to a party after work. Our market position is to offer glow anytime and anywhere.Initial Business Analysis course of instruction 1 ProjectionsAccording to the theory of Kotler and Armstrong, business analysis involves the sales, costs and profit projections for a new product. It can help marketers estimate the expected costs and profits within all(prenominal) stage and analyse whether the new product has financial attractiveness and execute the objective of the company. Marketers need to make a marketing strategy disputation outlines the be after price, distribution, and marketing budget for the first twelvemonth (2011).Based on the theory of Kotler and Armstrong, we designed a one year projec tion for our Freshies deodorant. According to the data of Office for National Statistics (2012), the population of 18-34 age people in UK was approximately 14 million. We flummox the product price as 2.00 for 10- direct, and draw that the forecast market penetration rate would be 5%. by and by the purchase oftenness would be 12 quantify per annum. Therefore, the net sales would reach to 16.8 million in year 1, and the brand profitability would be about 0.87 million in year 1. For more details, see our sales forecast from in the appendix.Product DevelopmentWhen the new product finishes the business test, it moves into product development. Booz, totallyen and Hamilton (1982) identify the commonly accepted categories of NPDs new-to-the-world products new product lines additions to existing lines improvements and revisions to existing products and repositioning products. The purpose of product development is to develop the product concept into a physical product to insure that ne w concepts can be transformed into a workable market offering (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011). The product development process requires much greater integration of different divisions (Trott, 2005). For instance, the RD department provides ideas, the engineering department go forth then take the ideas and develops possible prototypes the manufacturing department will seek possible ways to produce a workable product capable of mass manufacture the marketing department will then be brought in to plan and conduct the douse.In leisurely of Unilever already had the product line of deodorants and wipes, we pay more attention to growing the product strategy for our marketing plan. At first we determined that our product must follow the unique selling proposition of on-the-go, convenient and wipes on freshness, and then we designed our packing strategy to boxed, individually wrapped and pack of 5, 10 and 25 to fit the proposition. Finally, we invited our paired team to simulate our actual customers to collect the preliminary feedbacks of our product.CommercialisationThe final step of NPD process is commercialisation the product into the market. Commercialization refers to the development of the product concept, its successful launch, and interaction with potential buyers (Jolly, 1997 Pellikka and Virtanen 2009). Successful commercialisation is associated with growth market share and improved executing in new markets (Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 2007). It requires marketer to accurately grasp the entry clock and scale (Trott, 2005). In addition, commercialising a new product contains a number of new activities, such as build price, place and promotion strategy (Aarikka-Stenroos and Sandberg, 2012)Our place strategy will start from selective large cities in the UK. We plan to make Freshies available to purchase in large retail stores such as Boots, Superdrug, Waitrose, Topshop and River Island in most major cities in the UK. The set price is 2 for 10-pack. The promotio n methods we plan to use include a mix of public relations such as consumer led crowd and celeb endorsements, advertising such as 30 second ads on video recording channels or outdoor and press- Cosmo/GQ, social media marketing such as on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and sales promotions such as discounts and coupons.Three Year Business PlanThe richness of a successful marketing objectives not only knowing their customers, but also ensure the effective executing of their marketing efforts (Hamm, 2007). The three year marketing strategy statement describes the planned long-run sales, profit goals and market shares.These are brief summarizing of our goals shape up net sales to 12 million by Year 3Build consumer penetration to 7% by Year 3Build frequency of purchase to 16x per year by Year 3Build market share to 5% by Year 3To achieve this, brand profitability need to be improved, thus although the costs of marketing research will be reduced after the first year, total marketing spend will be raised in the second and triad years. In order to development profits, we planned to maintain the product price but increase the average purchase frequency of customers from 12 times in year 1 to 16 times in the year 3. For more details, see our sales forecast from in the appendix.CritiquesThe wide linear fashion model of NPD is ingrained in the minds of many people. The model shows the formation and development of an idea prior to its taking any physical form. In most industries it is from this point onwards that costs will rise significantly (Trott, 2005). The subsequent stages involve adding to the concept as those involved with the development (manufacturing engineers, product designers and marketers) begin to make decisions regarding how best to manufacture the product, what materials to use, possible designs and the potential markets evaluations. The NPD process model can reduce the risk associated with new product introduction and to increase the possibili ty of commercial success through implementation of a step-wise result (Crawford, 1997). It comprehensively analysis the key activities involved in the process, from idea to commercialization of the product. Firstly, ideas and prototypes are tested to ensure that the new product will meet target market needs and wants. Secondly, there is a test launch during the test marketing stage. It not only saves time and resources of the full market launch, but also helps managers decide to stop or go before large investing. Finally, the commercialization stage involves careful planning to avoid the rampant influencing factors.However, NPD process has changed significantly over the past 30 years (Griffin, 1997). All those actually involved with the development of new products dismiss such simple linear models as not being a true mold of reality. For example, more recent research suggests that the process needs to be viewed as a simultaneous and concurrent process with cross-functional intera ction (Hart, 1993), and Olson et al. (1995) demonstrated that cross-functional teams helped slim down the development of times of truly innovative products. Another disadvantage is that the model just focuses on certain key activities, but overlook the activities such as perform with retailers, set up customer inspection and repair department. galore(postnominal) new brands fail not because the quality of their products, but the reason is the parties cannot negotiate well with each other (Davies, 1990) or poor customer service (Chablo, 2000).ReferenceAarikka-Stenroos, L., and Sandberg, B. (2012). From new-product development to commercialization through networks.journal of Business research,65(2), pp. 198-206.Booz, Allen and Hamilton (1982) New Product trouble for the 1980s, New York Booz, Allen and Hamilton.Brierley, S. (2002).The advertising handbook. London Routledge.Carbomell, P., Escudero, A.I.R. and Aleman, J.L.M. (2004), Technology newness and fix of go/no-go criteria on new product success, Marketing Letters, 15(1), pp. 81-97.Chablo, E. (2000). The importance of marketing data intelligence in delivering successful CRM.DM Review,3(1), pp. 25-31.Cooper, R.G. and Kleinschmidt, E.J. (2007) sweet business in product development the critical success factors. Research and Technology Management, 50(3), pp. 52-66.Crawford, M.C. (1977). Marketing Research and the New Product Failure Rate, Journal of Marketing, 41(2). pp. 51-61.Day, G. S. (2007). Is it real? Can we win? Is it worth doing? Managing risk and reward in an innovation portfolio.Harvard business review,85(12), pp. 110-120.Davies, G. (1990). Marketing to retailers a battle for distribution?. capacious Range Planning,23(6), pp. 101-108.Griffin, A. (1997). PDMA research on new product development practices modify trends and benchmarking best practices.Journal of product innovation management,14(6), pp. 429-458.Hamm, S. (2007). Children of the Web How the Second-Generation Internet Is Spawning a G lobal Youth Culture and What Business Can Do to hard cash In. Business Week,2(1), pp. 50-57Hart, S. (1993). Dimensions of success in new product development an wildcat investigation. Journal of Marketing Management, 9(9), pp. 23-41.Hart, S., Hultink, E.J., Tzokas, N. and Commnadeur, H.R. (2003), Industrial companiesevaluation criteria in new product development gates, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 20(1), pp. 22-36.Jolly VK. (1997). Commercializing new technologies Getting form mind to market. Boston Harvard Business PressKotler and Armstrong, G. (2011). Principles of marketing, 14th edition, New jersey Pearson Education.Levitt, T. (1986) The Marketing Imagination, New York The Free Press.Mu, J. and Di Benedetto, C. (2011). Strategic orientations and new product commercialization mediator, moderator, and interplay,RD Management, 41(4), pp. 337-359Pellikka, J. and Virtanen, M. (2009). Problems of commercialization in small technology-based rms. International Journal En trepreneurship and Innovation Management 9(1), pp. 267-84.Page, A. L. (1993). Assessing new product development practices and performance establishing crucial norms.Journal of Product Innovation Management,10(4), pp. 273-290.Population. (2012) Office for National Statistics, Online Available at http//www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Population Accessed 20 January 2013Ritter, T. and Gemnden, HG. (2003). Network competence its impact on innovation success and its antecedents. Journal of Business Research 56(1), pp.745-755.Trott, P. (2008).Innovation management and new product development. New Jersey Prentice Hall.Wind, Y. (1982) Product Policy, Reading Addison-Wesley.

Saturday, March 30, 2019

The role and portrayal of Women in the media

The section and word-painting of Women in the mediaIntroductionMedia is considered as a traditionally masculine meditate and generally it is thought that women journalists can non skip the glass chapiter phenomenon. Pakistan is a nonher minefield of challenges for journalists, especially effeminate journalists. The problem prevails somely in electronic media scenario as women be making more than break byances on screen with the enlarge of private TV channels. They atomic number 18 considered little prominent. Fe priapic journalists laddering in growed look atries argon also facing such problems however Pakistani effeminate journalists ar in the initial stages towards progress.In Pakistan, with the advent of change magnitude number of private TV channels, young-bearing(prenominal) journalists quite oft condemnations appear on our television set screens. Anchor women, foreign correspondents, and special correspondents argon omnipresent in the main computer policy-making programme juveniles makes and in current aff channelises programs. They atomic number 18 considered beautiful and successful women, as intimately as trend-setters with approve to clothes, make believe-up and hairstyles. Print password media, where the strong-arm image is replaced by the reporters name, this phenomenon is more less(prenominal) prominent than electronic media.In spite of the large entrance of pistillate personnel into the paid ca-ca of information, women on top of editorial staff be unruffled a scanty minority this is, however, no diametrical to Western countries. Thanks to television, wo universely journalists rescue acquired great visibleness.Repennyly The trans issue Womens Media substructure announced that Rabia Mehmood, a journalist in the Lahore bureau of press bulge appear 24/7 Television in Pakistan, has received its 2010-11 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship. Mehmood is the sixth pass receiver of the annual fellowship, which gives a woman journalist scoreing in chump, broadcast or online media the opportunity to focus exclusively on human rights journalism and affectionate well(p)ice issues. Throughout her career, Mehmood has account on topics such as womens rights, freedom of speech and political unrest. She has c e trulyplaceed the survivors and victims of terrorist attacks, suicide bombings and troopsage sieges carried out by militants in Lahore. Mehmood has also reported on internally displaced heap who left Northwest Pakistan as a turn out of insurgency by terrorists and military offensives.But this is non the case of e truly womanly journalist. most(prenominal) of them are assigned to cover mixer, cultural, velvety stories, days events, or flatboat events. But manly journalists get the preference to get a profound assignment, stories which might be lead stories. With the evolution of time and in put in to follow the west, Pakistani media is giving important posts to female journa lists provided in fact the supply still lies in the quite a littles of dominant males. column Boards mostly consist of male members. sexual practice discrimination in journalism is real distinct and they are given the same benefits as to their male colleagues.Some of the most prominent women hunting in Pakistani electronic media areAasma ChuhdryDr Ayesha SiddiqaKatrina HussainBushra Rehman,Najia AsharNa meetm ZehraSaadia AfzaalSheren MazariAsma SheraziZahida HinaSana BuchaSumaira NadeemSana MirzaAyesha BakshAnd umteen moreTheoretical Framework sexual urge federal agency TheoryGender role theory posits that boys and girls learn the appropriate carriage and attitudes from the family and boilersuit culture they grow up with, and so non-physical sexual urge leavings are a product of socialization.Social role theory proposes that the social bodily structure is the underlying force for the sexuality differences. Social role theory proposes that the sex-differentiated deportm ent is driven by the division of push back between two sexes at heart a confederacy. Division of working class creates gender roles, which in turn, lead to gendered social behavior.The physical specialization of the sexes is considered to be the distal cause of the gender roles. mens unusual physical advantages in term of consistence size and upper body authority provided them an edge over women in those social activities that demanded such physical attri providedes such as hunting, herding and warfare. On the other hand, womens biological cleverness for facts of life and child-rearing is proposed to explain their limited involvement in other social activities. such divided activity arrangement for the purpose of achieving activity-efficiency led to the division of labor between sexes. Social role theorists allow explicitly stressed that the labor division is not narrowly defined as that between stipendiary employment and domestic activities, rather, is conceptualized t o include all activities performed within a smart set that are necessary for its human beings and sustainability. The characteristics of the activities performed by men and women became quite a littles perceptions and beliefs of the dispositional attri unlesses of men or women themselves. Through the process of correspondent inference, division of labor led to gender roles, or gender stereotype. Ultimately, people expect men and women who occupy sure position to be strike concord to these attributes.These socially constructed gender roles is considered to be ranked and characterized as a male-advantaged gender hierarchy. The activities men involved in were often those that provided them with more access to or control of resources and termination making power, interpretation men not provided superior dispositional attributes via correspondence bias (Gilbert, 1998, p.**), but also higher status and authority as society progressed. The contingent pattern of the labor division within a certain society is a dynamic process and determined by its specific economical and cultural characteristics. For instance, in an industrial economy, the emphasis on physical strength in social activities becomes less compared with that in a less travel economy. In a low birth rate society, women allow for be less confine to reproductive activities and thus more possible to be involved in a wide range of social activities. The beliefs that people take to about the sexes are derived from observations of the role performances of men and women and thus mull over the sexual division of labor and gender hierarchy of the society.The consequences of gender roles and stereotypes are sex-typed social behavior because roles and stereotypes are both socially shared descriptive norms and prescriptive norms. Gender roles provide guides to normative behaviors that are typical, ought-to-be and thus likely effective for each sex within certain social context. Gender roles also depic t i do, should-be, and thus desirable behaviors for men and women who are occupying a particular position or involving in certain social activities. raise is another way, men and women, as social beings, strive to belong and examine for approval by complying and conforming to the social and cultural norms within their society. The deference to social norms not lone(prenominal) shapes the pattern, but also maintains the very existence of sex-typed social behavior.In summary, social role theory treats these differing distributions of women and men into roles as the primary origin of sex-differentiated social behavior, their impact on behavior is negociate by psychological and social processes including developmental and socialization processes, as well as by processes involved in social interaction (e.g., anticipation confirmation) and self-regulationSocial Construction of Gender DifferenceThis perspective proposes that gender difference is socially constructed. This perspective believes that gender is socially constructed. Social constructionism of gender moves off from socialization as the origin of gender differences people do not merely internalize gender roles as they grow up but they respond to changing norms in society. Children learn to categorize themselves by gender very early on in life. A part of this is eruditeness how to display and perform gendered identities as masculine or feminine. Boys learn to manage their physical and social environment through physical strength or other skills, while girls learn to present themselves as objects to be viewed. Children monitor lizard their own and others gendered behavior. Gender-segregated childrens activities create the appearance that gender differences in behavior mull over an essential nature of male and female behavior.Judith Bulter contends that being female is not inwrought and that it appears natural exactly through repeated performances of gender these performances in turn, reproduce an d define the traditional categories of sex and/or gender. A social constructionist view looks beyond categories and examines the intersections of multiple identities, the blurring of the boundaries of essentialist categories. This is especially true with regards to categories of male and female that are typically viewed by others as binary and opposites of each other. By deconstructing categories of gender, the value placed on masculine traits and behaviors disappears. However, the elimination of categories makes it difficult to make some(prenominal) comparisons between the genders or to argue and fight against male domination.Feminism, masculinism and sacred viewsSome feminists see gender differences as caused by patriarchy or discrimination, although difference feminism argues for an acceptance of gender differences. Conservative masculists tend to see gender differences as inherent in human nature, while liberalist masculists see gender differences as caused by matriarchy and discrimination.History of the compete of female journalistsSince the 1960s, feminists endure argued that it matters who makes it. When it comes to the mass media, who makes it continues to be men.Women working in the media have made some inroads. In 2001, the foreign Federation of Journalists reported that roughly the world, 38 per cent of all working journalists are women. Studies conducted by Canadian researchers Gertrude Robinson and Armande Saint-Jean have found that 28 per cent of newspaper editors are female. And according to San Diego State University communications professor Martha Lauzen, 24 per cent of American television producers, writers, and directors are women.Denis Monire, political analyst and professor at Quebecs University of Montreal maintains that even if the visibility of female journalists has grown in the last ten age, we shouldnt be likewise quick to shout victory. In 2002, the Canadian Newspaper Association reported that 43 per cent of Canadian newspa per employees are women. However, they account for besides eight per cent of editors-in-chief and twelve per cent of publishers. Women employed in the vault of heaven tend to work in pink-collar ghettos they make up 70 per cent of the advertising department, and 80 per cent of the accounting and finance staff.In addition to being un-represented in positions of authority, Monire thinks women are also under-utilized in covering the subjects considered most important-politics, economy and social trends. And when it comes to the evening news, women are close to invisible. The posting of Sophie Thibault in 2002 as the ten oclock news anchor for the national French-language channel TVA is a first-class honours degree for Canada. just about often, women are consigned to noon-hour shows, local newscasts, fill-ins and weekend spots.However, men continue to occupy approximately 75 per cent of the positions of power in the mass media.The 2001 study conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy boil down at the University of Pennsylvania is equally damning. The Center reports that only 13 per cent of the top executives of American media, telecommunications and e-companies are female. And that 13 per cent is not backbreaking at the top women constitute only 9 per cent of the boards of directors for these companies, and they h experient only 3 per cent of the most powerful positions.CURRENT pipWomen in Islamic nations are increasingly being heard, seen and listened to, thanks in part to ahead(p) female voices determined to make a difference, condescension challenges ranging from motherhood to threats on their lives.One of the hostesses of a popular Saudi program called Speaking Softly says that until recently, she did not see people like herself on television.Muna Abusulayman is one of four anchorwomen on the show that deals with various issues in a talk format. Of the four, Abusulayman is the only one who wears a hijab, or headscarf. She is also part and lives alone with her child in Saudi Arabia.Women in the Middle eastern United States actually make up the majority of anchors and presenters on television. But, Abusulayman says, they are much less prominent behind the scenes and in other media like print and intercommunicate.Tasneem Ahmar, who runs a media and advocacy group in Pakistan as well as producing wireless programs on womens issues, agrees with Abusulayman.With more than 25 years experience as a journalist, Ahmar says that, not contradictory the West, most conclusion-making furrows, top executive positions, and problematical assignments are given to men.Women normally are assigned very soft issues social issues, cultural issues, she utter. There are very a couple of(prenominal) women, youll find, who are doing hard political stories or economic stories or current affairs programs.Tasneem Ahmar thinks positive changes for women in the Middle East and the Islamic world are on the horizon. She predicts that a new wave of young women in the Pakistani media will have an impact in five to ten years in her country.These young girls who have come in, theyre very ambitious and theyre very hard working and I dont think anything is departure to stop them from going to the top positions.While thither is still a lot of work to be done, the women hope that their efforts and successes in the media will inspire not only women but men too. Or maybe there is truth to the old adage, the beaver man for the job is a woman.One woman in the Middle East who does cover tough stories and speaks out is May Chidiac. She is the host of a Lebanese TV program called With Audacity.Chidiac is k at a timen all over the Arab world for her tenacious journalism. A victim of an assassination attempt by suspected Syrian agents, she lost a hand and a arm in a car bombing in September 2005. later on numerous surgeries, she went straight back to work.Reporter of an English Newspaper from capital of Bangladesh says that in most cases, chie f reporters/assignment editors (almost everyone are male) do not assign them something special/important or significant reports. They are still assigned soft stories, days events, or light events. But male journalists get the preference to get a significant assignment, stories which might be lead stories.But the interesting point is that, many female journalists in our country now protesting this kind-hearted of attitudes and they are getting near kind of assignment later fighting with their bosses.In Bangladesh, this is a very new phenomenon to appoint female journalists in electronic media, However, critics pointed that as female is more attractive then male in electronic media, so the media owners appoints the female journalists to attract audiences. About 15 percent female journalists are now working in countrys 11 state and privately run TV channels.On the other hand, in print media, we are very few female reporters are which any working journalist can count within 10 minute s.There are some other sectors of the media where female are more visible then report like speculative and glamorous job for un copen reasons.Anam Istafa, Sub editor, National Herald Tribune openly admits that female journalists are usually assumed to be dumb and so tender hearted for Hard news coverage especially of blasts and natural disasters. She says that very rare females are at the executive positions in media news media business. Most of them usually follow guideline and policies by their male bosses. Policy and decision makers are predominantly men.Despite the increase of womens visibility in media organizations, journalists in South Asia are hardly seen in the decision-making positions.This was one of the several issues highlighted by more than 200 women working in the media from every SAARC country, who came together for the first time in Lahore, Pakistan, for a two-day meeting on Women in Media Challenges, Opportunities and Partnership.Women media persons from Maldiv es, Bhutan and Nepal pointed out that none of the print media in their country has ever had a female journalist heading the newsroom. Participants from India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka raised similar concerns, and also pointed out that man in their media organizations outnumbered women.Most of the participants cited long and difficult working hours, lack of incentives and judgment to keep women working in the media, fulfilling household obligations and unequal wages as some of the reasons why women in the media are under-represented at various levels in South Asia. These were also some of the reasons why most female media persons, after working for few years, leave the profession for other jobs.Portrayal of women in the media as victims was also discussed extensively. Some of the participants pointed out that women make news in several South Asian news media only when they are victims of contrast, crime, natural disasters or terrorism.However, one of the guest speakers , Pakistans federal information minister, Qamar Zaman Kaira, verbalize Women journalists play an important role in voicing concerns of the victims in conflict areas, who are often women and children. Some of these victims are more comfortable sharing their experiences with female professionals. He urged women media persons to also take up more serious and hard-hitting issues relating to politics, security and conflict.Senior journalist in Pakistan, Shehar Bano, utter at the conference that worldwide research studies indicate transformation in news content brought on by an influx of women into the news media. Issues such as health, education, child care and women workers have gained prominent slots in newspapers, she express.Bandana genus Rana from Nepal said, however, that there are also many female media persons, who are confined to covering only feature articles on art, culture and lifestyle and very few female reporters are assigned business, economics or political stories.I t was resolved during the meeting that female media persons should be given reproduction opportunities to bring up their skills to cover all issues, along with mentorship programmes between senior and junior female journalists.Former Chairperson, Department of Mass Communications at University of Karachi, Professor Shahida Qazi said she is happy that more and more Pakistani women are now association media. She recalled when in 1966 she had conjugated Daily Dawn Karachi as a reporter, many people were surprised. She said now more than 70 percent of Karachi University students are women. She said in the Department of Mass Communications, there are more female students than males.Former Secretary Information Department, and TV compere Mehtab Akbar Rashdi said declaration of the state of emergency and curbs on media in Pakistan have take aback journalists, writers and human right activists. She said the dream of gender justice and par could not materialize until change of mindset in male population. She said even today in the practical field female journalists exhibit many problems due to this dogmatic thinking.Rashdi said steps for empowerment of women should be taken from the home. She said parents should encourage their daughters to get higher education and work in every walk of life.Electronic media in Pakistan is highlighting gender-related issues in a better way in comparison to print media, because more women journalists work in TV channels. Pakistani women have entered the field of journalism after a tough competition. Now women journalists and photographers could be seen working in Pakistani society and it is a welcome change.Association of Television Journalists (ATJ) only has some 50 females among its 700 or so members around the country, but almost half of them are concentrated in the business capital of Karachi. Women are highly visible in the Pakistani media as anchors and talk show hosts on dozens of private piano tuner and television chann els in various regional languages, besides English and Urdu.Women are paid less than their male colleagues for equal work and have to fight harder for the political or other high profile assignments Most identify sexual agony as their biggest concern, according to Zebunnisa Burki, who has been coordinating South Asian Women in Media (SAWM)EFFORTS / step TAKEN TO PROMOTE ROLE OF WOMEN IN MEDIAGender Equality beyond 2005 Building a more secure future for women reportersTo mark International Womens Day on 8 March 2005, UNESCOs director-General, Kochiro Matsuura, launched for the fourth time the global initiative Women Make the News. UNESCO appeals to all media producing daily news to hand over editorial responsibility to women to cast the news on that day.UNESCO Supports Gender in Journalism Awards in PakistanThe Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) organizes the Gender in Journalism Awards to honour excellence in gender sensitive reporting in the country. UNESCO supports the two awards, each carrying a cash prize of Rs 25,000 (US$ 400), that will be given to Pakistani journalists.One award recognizes models for excellence and best practices in coverage of gender related issues. It is open to both male and female journalists. The second award honours outstanding coverage of any issue by a female journalist. Its aim is to promote role models for women entering or planning to enter the journalism field. Journalists working in print media may submit their own work, or editors and others may nominate articles that promote the objectives of the awards.Fiji Women Community Radio InitiativefemLINKpacific (Media Initiatives for Women), a womens media NGO, launched in 2004 femTALK 89.2FM, a mobile womens corporation radio project. In January 2005, as a result of the grant of UNESCOs Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), the femLINKpacific is taking the suitcase radio to women in their communities.The aim of the femTALK 89,2FM project is t o not only create a new space on the radio waves for community based discussion, but also to provide practical opportunities for women within their own communities to highlight and predict issues relevant to them.The main focus of femLINKpacifics range of community media initiatives is women speaking to women for peace. The decision making structures still lack equal representation by women and the capacity of women, especially from the rural population and the poor, to communicate openly on usual matters should be increased.International Womens Media FoundationSince its founding in 1990, the International Womens Media Foundation has conducted training programs on five continents, in 26 countries and over the meshing with the goal of strengthening the role of women in the news media worldwide.The IWMF supports women in the media through groundbreaking projects, and innovative research and training designed to help women develop their skills and become leaders in their profession. Since 1990, the IWMF has honored more than 50 inordinately brave and hardworking journalists with Courage in Journalism Awards. The only international awards designed to recognize the contributions of women on journalisms front lines, the Courage awards recognize women who have faced physical attacks, prison terms, beatings, rape, and death threats to themselves and their families.Training Women Media ProfessionalsInternews is one of the worlds leading trainers of female media professionals, training more than 25,000 women in media skills since 2003 alone.Internews helps women get on the air and in the newsrooms in societies where their participation has been marginalized, allowing for reporting on all issues-not just womens issues-to be done through the voices of women in that society.Mainstreaming Womens IssuesTo ensure that the media meet the require of all audiences, Internews works to foster womens leadership in the media industry so that issues of vital concern to women are mainstreamed, integrated across all schedule and not relegated to a niche market.In communities where specific gender issues are underreported, such as gender-based violence or womens health, Internews has certain special programs produced by and for women.Pakistans First Radio Program by and for WomenIn Pakistan, where only trey percent of journalists are women, Internews has worked to increase the number of women working in media, training women at journalism programs established by Internews at universities from Peshawar to Rawalpindi to Balochistan. Internews launched Meri Awaz Suno (Hear My Voice), the countrys first free-lance syndicated program that features women as both producers and subjects.In 2003, Internews built a state-of-theart breakaway radio production facility in Islamabad where women journalists are apt in radio reporting and production and work on Meri Awaz Suno.The radio show airs on 19 independent radio displace across the country, and focuses on issue s such as politics, education and health. Before Internews training, most reporters working on Meri Awaz Suno had little experience working in radio or journalism. Now they are leaders the first women in Pakistan to work as independent broadcast journalists, and role models for young women.Establishment of gathering Named Women Journalists Pakistan (WJP)The women journalists of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad formally announced Women Journalists Pakistan (WJP) forum to address professional problems faced by them and find out ways to nurture their skills.The sacrament was organized at the National Press Club, Islamabad in which Javed Akhtar, Director News Associated Press of Pakistan, Absar Alam, Anchor person Aaj TV, Qatrina Hussain, Anchor person bear TV and Fozia Shahid Anchor Person ATV shared their through provoking ideas and views with a large number of female journalists present there.According to WJP members, the body is a non-political and intellectual-based foru m that aims to provide platform to working women journalists in the print and electronic media.In addition to raising a collective voice on issues faced by women journalists, the forum will initially focus on two basic aspects networking and facilitating journalists avail media-related career-building opportunities.The WJP hierarchy isMyra Imran of The News (Convener) Saadia Khalid, The News and Humaira Sharif of APP (Resource persons). working conclave Ayesha Habib (Dunya TV) Sehrish Majid (Apna TV), Anila Bashir- (Samaa), Asma Ghani (The Nation), Maimoona (Khabrain), Siddrah Bokhari (APP), Naheed Akhtar (APP), Shumaila Noreen (APP), Zahida Mahmood (APP), Ghazala Noreen (News-One TV), Saadia Masood (Rohi TV), Nazia Hameed (Channel 5), Afshan Qureshi (Ausaf), Rukhsana Mussarat (Radio Pakistan), Shazia Seher (Apna TV).The WJP Advisory Board comprises the followingQatrina Hussain (Anchorperson, Express TV) Absar Alam (Anchorperson Aaj TV) Ghazi Salahuddin (Member Editorial Board, Ja ng Group of Newspapers) Javed Akhtar (Director News, APP) Muhammad Ziauddin (Executive Editor, The Express Tribune) Shamsul Islam Naz (Secretary General, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists) Asma Shirazi (Anchorperson Samaa TV) Mazhar Arif (Executive Director, Alternate Media) and Fozia Shahid (ATV).Establishment of Aasha (the Alliance Against intimate Harrasment) and a code of conduct for workplaceWWO is among the civil society organisations which got together a few years ago to form Aasha, the Alliance Against intimate Harassment (www.aasha.org.pk) in collaboration with the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and Pakistans Ministry of Women Development.Aasha developed a code of conduct for the workplace and a procedure to deal with harassment and discrimination. Geo TV, the largest private television network in Pakistan is among the few media organisations Aasha lists as a progressive employer.Its not necessary for every case to be a federal issue, commented a television prod ucer who worked with Geo when Aasha started. Often the stress arises because of the widespread gender segregation in our society many of these youngsters dont know how to interact with each other. This leads to misunderstandings that the code helps to clear up.Another reason for growing sexual harassment may be that, with education, more people are crossing class barriers.Women coming into journalism earlier were relatively connected and self-confident. Many now come from lower-middle class backgrounds and have less confidence. Men find it easier to take advantage of or intimidate them, observed a senior journalist.Problems Faced by Female Journalists(Pakistan)It is an established fact that women are an integral part of the Pakistani media. Professionally, they match their male colleagues and their analytical and investigative skills are quite impressive. With their distinctive approach to political, economic and social issues, women journalists have successfully highlighted th e human angle that had previously remained neglected. They have proven themselves, both in the print and the electronic media.Less than a decade ago, there were very few women in journalism. But things have now changed and with the fountain of a string of television channels, many new faces have joined in. These motivated girls have been a valuable addition to the Pakistani media. Viewers, readers and listeners, have all appreciated their work.However, unfortunately the working tallys in the media houses have remained unchanged. suffering salaries, downsizing, lack of professionalism, non-existence of basic facilities for employees like health, old age benefits etc, no job security and non-conducive work environment in majority of media organizations especially in the Urdu print media are indeed big hurdles. This has greatly affected women journalists because they are often the first ones to become victims of downsizing. Mainly due to social pressures, they cannot work in two or three places like their male colleagues and unlike their male colleagues women are reluctant to seek favors.The constraints they face due to overall environment in media industry become a hurdle in their way to assume journalism as a career but another dimension of this issue is the problems female journalists face within their community the biggest is their continuing struggle to become registered journalists within media bodies.Unfortunately, majority of the women journalists have only been granted associate membership which is actually not regular membership. The condition is worst in under developed areas where women, in most of cases, dont rehearse for membership.This apparently small problem has long lasting effect on the overall situation of female journalists and their growth in media industry. Due to non-registratio