Geological Forces That Shape the Earth Essay

Diastrophism Defined: †¢Comes from the Greek word meaning a â€Å"twisting† deformation of the Earth’s crust. All processes that move, or elevate or build up portions of the Earth’s crust comes under this. †¢Diastrophism covers movement of solid (plastic) material, as opposed to movement of molten material which is covered by volcanism. †¢The most obvious evidence of diastrophic movement can be seen where sedimentary rocks have been bent, broken or tilted. Types of Earth Movement: a.Uplift †¢Is the movement of the Earth wherein the crust rises. †¢Process in which structural highs in Earth’s crust are created (e.g. mountains). †¢The movement of tectonic plates and igneous plumes are two processes which may result in uplift. b.Subsidence †¢A sinking or setting of part of the Earth’s crust with respect to the surrounding parts is the motion of a surface (usually, the Earth’s surface) as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea level. c.Thrust †¢Horizontal movement of the Earth’s crust. Theories of Diastrophism: a.Theory of Isostasy †¢States that as rock from higher region is removed by erosion and deposited on a lower region, the higher region slowly rises while the lower region becomes heavier and sinks. b.Contraction Theory †¢States that the Earth is gradually sinking. As the shrinkage occurs, the stronger and heavier blocks of the crust sink while the weaker strata are crowded and squeezed upward. c.Convection Theory †¢Is a theory which would account for publishing and folding of rocks through convection currents. This process is true when it occurs under a continental mass. d.Continental Drift Theory †¢Is a theory which accounts for diastrophic movement and for the folding and faulting along the edges of the continents. e.Expansion Theory †¢Is a theory which states that the Earth is gradually expanding. Expansion of the Earth would change the continents’ position. Structural Features of the Earth’s Movement: a.Deformation of Rocks †¢The effects of diastrophism are clearly seen in sedimentary rocks. Any deformation of sedimentary rocks is shown in tilts, bends, or break in the layer. b.Folds †¢A bend or flexure in a rock can be likened to waves on the ocean. Each has a crust and a trough or a down fold. †¢The crust of a rock is called an anticline. The trough of a rock is called syncline. c.Dip and Strike †¢Dip – angle between the horizontal plane or structural surface. †¢Strike – direction of a line along the edge of an inclined bed where it meets the horizontal plane. It is always at right of the dip. d.Pitching Fold †¢Folds whose access slants downward at the each end of an imaginary line running along the top of an anticline or along the bottom of a syncline are called the axes of the fold. †¢The angle between the axis and the horizontal is called Pitch. e.Joints and Fissures †¢Joint – a fracture or a little separation between the rock walls. †¢While Fissures are cracks or actual gap between rock walls. f.Faulting †¢Refers to the surface along which a rock body has been broken and has been displaced. †¢Two types of Faulting: a.Vertical Faulting b.Horizontal Faulting Types of Fault a.Thrust Fault †¢It is a low angle fault in which the hanging wall is moved upward in relation to the footwall. It is characterized by the horizontal compression rather than vertical displacement. †¢A reverse fault in which the fault plane is inclined at an angle equal to or less than 45 degrees. †¢A geological fault in which the upper side appears to have been pushed upward by compression. b.Normal Fault †¢Also called Gravity Fault, a dip slip fault in which the hanging wall has moved downward relative to the footwall. †¢A geologic fault in which the hanging wall has moved downward relative to the footwall. Normal faults occur where two blocks of rocks are pulled apart as by tension. c.Reverse Fault †¢Is the material above the fault plane that moves up in relation to the material below. †¢A geologic fault in which the hanging wall has moved upward relative to the footwall. Reverse faults occur where two blocks of rock are forced together by compression.

Effect of Stress on Beet Cells

The Effect of Temperature on Beet Cell Membranes Introduction In this lab, we are going to learn how the stress of temperature affects fresh beets. We have come to learn that cell membranes organize the chemical activities of cells. All cells are made of plasma membranes, often called fluid mosaics. It is sometimes described as a mosaic because it is made of protein molecules that are embedded into phospholipids. Phospholipids are the main structural support of the membrane and the proteins perform most of the functions of a membrane. Together they form boundaries or barriers between the cell itself and its surroundings, like the membrane of an egg. Plasma membranes also control what substances come in and out and also dispose of the cells waste. The membrane itself is composed primarily of phospholipids. Phospholipid molecules have two parts and form a sheet that has two layers, called a bi-layer. They are made up of two fatty acids which make up the tail end and the head is phosphate group. The head of this molecule is hydrophobic, which mean it is attracted to water and their tail is hydrophobic which means they dislike water. Together they form a bobby-pinned shaped barrier. Listed below is my hypothesis for this experiment. I hypothesize that tube 1 at 70 ° c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be 10. I hypothesize that tube 2 at 55 ° c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be 8. I hypothesize that tube 3 at 40 ° c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be 6. I hypothesize that tube 4 at 22 ° c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be 0. I hypothesize that tube 5 at 5 ° c the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be 8. I hypothesize that tube 6 at -5 ° the color intensity of leaked betacyanin will be 10. Method The first thing that I did was label each test tube with numbers 1-6 and listed each corresponding temperature on the label. I cut six pieces of beet in the measurements that were given and rinsed them under tap water for 2 minutes. I then patted them with a paper towel to get off the excess water. I kept the pieces of beet in the paper towel while I got the other items ready. For the cold treatment I put one piece of beet in each beaker (5 and 6) and put tube 5 in the refrigerator and tube 6 in the freezer. I left them in there for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, I covered each one with the same amount of tap water and let them soak for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I took each beet out of the test tube, threw the beet away, but saved the colored water so I could chart later. For the room temperature and hot treatments I put each piece of beet into its marked test tube. For tube 1 (70 °c), I had to simmer water to get it to the correct temperature. I put the piece of beat into the beaker of water and waited one minute, I took it out and put it in beaker one, covered it with room temperature water and waited 20 minutes. Beet 2, 3 and 4 were all conducted the same way. I put the correct temperature of water into the beaker, let the beat soak for one minute, took the beet out of the beaker and covered with tap water in the test tube for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I discarded all the beets so I could record my findings with the colored water that was left behind. Results: From doing this experiment I found that the more stressful environments you subject an item to the differently they act. It is cause and reaction. In tube number one the color intensity leak was at a ten, the highest number on the chart. I found that the heat seemed to open the pores of the beet to let the dye permeate the water. In tube 2 the color was at a 7. The water was still warm enough to allow the dye molecules to pass through the membrane. In tube 3, the water was at 40. This is still warm but not the color was not nearly as intense as the previous tube. The next tube charted was tube number 4. The beet was subjected to a temperature of only 22 °c. That temperature I would chart as â€Å"room temperature†. I found that the least amount of dye was leaked from the beet. For the cold methods I concluded that the amount of betacyanin that escaped from the cell membrane was intense, like the hot treatment results. I concluded that it didn’t have to be hot temperature stress to release betacyanin. Tube number 5 was placed into the refrigerator and the level of dye that permeated the water was charted at a 6. Tube 6 was placed in the freezer and was documented at a level of color intensity of a ten. Also, when the tube was pulled from the freezer the specimen has noticeably changed. It has a slight white, almost white frost or texture to it. Please see attachment and table below. Test Tube numberTreatment  °CColor Intensity (0 – 10) 170 10 255 7 340 5 422 1 55 6 6-5 10 Discussion I believe the result came out the way they did because of level of stress I put the beet through. When damage is done to a cell membrane it affects the entire vegetable. When the beet was put in such hot temperatures the cell membrane started to break down and leak the pigment through the cell wall, since the cell is semi-permeable. Like we spoke about in our text book, the cell membrane lets small molecules to pass through. When the beet was heated to 70 °c or cooled to -5 °c it was subjected to much more stress that at a normal room temperature, which the beet is grown and stored at. The various temperatures make the beet release its pigments. The extreme hot and cold acted as energy for the beet to release the red dye. The structures need to have a stable environment in order to establish their structure. My hypotheses were correct, for the most part. My numbers were not exact, but I had the general idea of what I thought would happen. I thought that the more stress you put on to a beet the great amount of pigment you would receive out of it. I figured that beets were stored at room temperature so if you put them in water that was the same temperature as the room it wouldn’t cause stress on the membrane, hence the least amount of pigment leakage. I was surprised at the amount of pigment that came from the beet. When I first cut the beet the pigment was all over the cutting board and the knife, not to mention by hands. Accuracy is key. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we strive to do things perfectly sometimes there are variables that can affect how the results are derived. In my experiment, I tried to cut each beet with precision. It is almost impossible to cut each beet the exact same and this could have slightly affected how my beets reacted to each session. The larger the surface of the beet the more pigment the beet has in it to release. Another variable could also be the freshness of the beets. My beets where purchased 1200 kilometers and two countries away from where I did the experiment and weren’t extremely firm like they should be. After doing research, I found that the older the beet is the more pigment it has. That could give me not as true of a reading. The last variable I could have experienced was the temperature of the room. The day the experiment was held it was 1 °c outside , so the heater was running full speed all day. I think the experiment could have had more true results if the room was at a more normal temperature. I think while doing the experiment the beets could have dried out slightly from the air in the house being so warm. When working with patients you need to understand the symptoms they have in order to help them. Let’s say I had a man with cancer come into the hospital and I was in charge of monitoring his pain level. If the man was on two different pain medications I would need to know how the two medications worked with each other in order to successfully help him. I would have to know how Morphine worked with Aspirin or how Motrin interacted with Tylenol. Having done this experiment, it has helped me understand how there is cause and effect to everything that we do on a daily basis. If I gave the man 10 cc’s of Motrin I can give him a Fentanyl lozenge later in the day if he is still in pain. That way I keep the side effects, such as nausea, to a minimum without overdoing the amount of morphine I give him. Also doing this experiment has given me the faith in myself to know that I can take action and do experiments, charting, researching and investigation if I want to know why something happens the way it does.

Aspects of E-Commerce Business Solutions Coursework

Aspects of E-Commerce Business Solutions - Coursework Example The four basic technological trends that have led to a change in the technological environment within and outside an organization are as follows: - The doubling of computer power every 18 months, which we also refer to as the Moores Law; - Advancement in data storage and research techniques; - Advancement in the field of telecommunication; - The Internet. The Need for these premises in the modern day organization is as follows: - Business Transformation: this includes a class of services aimed at carrying out relevant research and applying the interpretation of the data emanating from the same in order to transform the company and render exponential growth to its operational effectiveness. - Systems and technology consultancy: this includes working with private as well as public companies and corporations to source and provide information regarding financial services, energy, government and public services, manufacturing and telecommunications, among many others, so as to promote the scope for strategic partnerships between the public and private corporations for a better information base that will help all aspects of a business. - The world has shrunk to a small speck called E-commerce, where it is now possible to exchange goods and money in the form of normal transactions. Shopping on the Internet or online shopping as it is more popularly known is that form of shopping that has almost emptied shopping malls in various parts of the world. For success in this kind of trading and information, it is important to stimulate the customer or end user in ways that will be different from normal marketing. (Nemetz, 2002) For example, it is not possible for a customer to feel the fabric of the shirt he is about to buy from an online trader. So what is it that is supposed to draw him? Similarly, the housewife cannot smell the coffee beans that she is being offered on an online grocery store – so how does she know it will be something that she will relish every morning? These are the questions that are often asked in the arena of the Internet and E-Commerce. In this regard, all the answers point towards specific simulation application that may be used and categorized as aids in online shopping.

Family Friendly Policy and Optimum Shifts for Nurses Essay

Family Friendly Policy and Optimum Shifts for Nurses - Essay Example It has been suggested that the UK economy is dependant on workers who work long hours, and if the EU chooses to remove the "opt-out" clause the UK will bode poorly (Cooper, 2003; Parker, 2006). At present, the UK Government wishes to be informed of the multitude of views of stakeholders affected by the consequences of long working shifts. Input is expected to be used to collaboratively construct better legislation and policies that focus on the health and well being of shift workers. Inclusive deliberation over policy aligns UK best practices with those of the European Union (EU), which is currently renewing the 1993 Working Time Directive (93/104/EC) (Department of Trade and Industry [DTI], 2004). This paper aims to review shift working patterns and family friendly policies for nurses in the UK. Firstly, family friendly policies with regard to labour in the UK will be presented. Secondly, shift pattern differences between 8 and 12 hours shall be discussed with regard to family life. Thirdly, the effects of shift patterns on older nurses and their perceptions of shift work affects on family life will be delineated. Next, recommendations for best practices within the UK shall be provided. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesise the main points of the paper. It has been stated by the UK Government that it will implement changes to the European Working Time Directive (what is known as the Horizon... It is reported that a large number of workers in the UK work in excess of a 48 hours (Royal College of Physicians, 2006).Family friendly policies focus on the psycho-social aspects of work, and highlight the importance of values and interaction between children and caregivers, not only to these parties, but also to the wider community, and subsequently social environments that overlap with work (Nickson, Warhurst, Lockyer & Dutton, 2004). Children gain from family friendly policies by way of; socialisation; well being; education; reduced risk of anti-social behaviour; and alternative models for the female role (i.e., as equal participants). Caregivers have the opportunity for increased identity integration and satisfaction with life in general by participating in family-oriented activities. An organisation such as a hospital or other health care delivery environment will benefit from enhanced work performance, better communication and interpersonal skills of staff, and increased high quality care for patients, resulting in both patient and employee (Equal Opportunities Commission [EOC], 2006). From a social point of view, enhanced family functioning, intergenerational and inter gender relationships, combined with a positive view toward childbearing, can boost and maintain a sustainable economy.A good example of inclusive family policies is reflected in the recognition of fatherhood as a valuable psycho-social experience. Since the 1960s radical changes within family structure have taken place (e.g., nuclear families may now be extended to include relatives, step-, bi-racial; adopted; same-sex or single-parent). As such, prioritise have changed, and the contemporary dad wants to spend

Job application letter( cover letter) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Job application letter( cover letter) - Essay Example This presented me with the chance to implement my educational acquired skills to action and operation. I am positive the skills and experience I acquired at Starbucks will be of great help to your organization. I will ensure that I perform at my best level and use my profession experience to enhance the operations of your company. Apart from marketing skills, I acquired leadership traits. I was head of the junior staff in the organization. While studying business I ventured my interest in learning marketing and advertising. I acquired the necessary skills to enable me to be a part of any marketing or advertisement strategy. Offered the opportunity I would offer my expertise to your organization. I would greatly and effectively apply my educational experience in marketing to promote the effectiveness of marketing in your organization. Working at Starbucks gave me a real picture of working in the corporate environment. I acted as a part time marketing officer. Additionally, I represented a junior department in the organization which gave me a chance to acquire leadership

Laboratory Questions set 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Laboratory Questions set 4 - Essay Example A. Factors affecting strength- 1.Although men's and women's muscle tissue are characteristically the same, men generally have more muscle tissue than women do because muscle size is increased by the presence of testosterone, the male sex hormone. The larger the muscles, the stronger the person; this is why most men are stronger than most women.2. The point of tendon insertion also influences muscle strength. For example, for two people with the same arm and muscle length, if one person's biceps tendon attaches to the forearm farther from the elbow joint than the other person's, that person will have a biomechanical advantage and be able to lift more weight than the other in biceps exercises such as the biceps curl. (Tackett 2003) Factors affecting power: 1. The ability to transport oxygen to the muscles by the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. The energy systems can be classified into the anaerobic and aerobic system and most activities generally require the use of a combination of systems for energy fulfillment. The anaerobic system is classified further into the immediate supply via the "alactic" or adenosine triphosphate-creatine phosphate (ATP-CP) and the short term energy supply from the "lactic" or gylcolytic pathways of energy supply. For more sustained and longer term energy supply the aerobic system is utilised by the process of oxidation. The ATP-CP system provides for the first 5-10 seconds and relates to speed and strength activities thus being very important to the production of power within performance. The recovery of this system is relatively quick with only periods of 30 seconds required to be replenished and then apply repeat effort. If high energy tasks are required greater than 10 seconds then the breakdown of glycogen to glucose and

Taxation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Taxation - Assignment Example These two systems worked independently in the past and the tax authorities maintained separate tax systems for income tax and national insurance contributions. Income tax was taxed annually in a progressive manner on individuals and corporate bodies whereby low income earners were taxed lower than high income earners (UK Government, 2012). The tax rates increased with increase in incomes of individuals. On the other hand, benefits are payments to individuals by the state. They are paid to individuals through the bank, credit union account or building societies. If one does not have any of these accounts, he/she may be paid through Post Office card account. There are various types of benefits in UK. Attendance allowance is a tax-free benefit paid to individuals of over 65 years who are mentally or physically handicapped. Two rates of up to ?71.40 are payable per week. Carer’s allowance is payable weekly in advance or every 4 or 13 weeks. Child benefit is a universal claim by pa rents for their children (BBC News, 2012). They are paid after every four weeks in normal situations and weekly for single parents. Tax credit is also paid weekly or after every four weeks, to families with children, whether the parents work or not. Disability living allowance is is a tax-free benefit payable after every 4 weeks to disabled people who have walking difficulties and who need someone to help them walk. Other types of benefits include crisis loans, council tax benefits, community grant care, child trust fund, etc. 2. Description of the proposed recommendation The proposed recommendation requires the integration of income tax with benefit systems. To achieve this, the UK tax system first needs to merge income tax and National insurance. These are two different ways in which income tax are paid in UK. Maintaining the two types of tax systems may be costly, less transparent and burdensome. Integrating the two systems will therefore bring forth an easier method of paying in come tax in UK. The integration of income tax with National insurance contribution makes it more transparent for the tax system. The progressive taxation in UK includes 20% basic rate, 40% higher rate and 50% additional rate of income tax (Mirrlees et al, 2012). If this income tax is integrated with National Insurance Contribution, the new rates may be 31%, 41% and 51% respectively. This is a more transparent mechanism which enables individuals to pay for their taxes more easily at once rather than maintaining two separate tax accounts. The second step in the integration of benefit and tax systems is the integration of the benefit system. In this case, the benefit and tax credit systems are merged together. This is a messy and complicated mix of overlapping programmes. The programmes which need to be include programmes needed to provide support for low-income families and benefits provided to give non-means-tested support for various contingencies. The former class of programmes inc ludes job-seekers allowance, income support, housing benefit, pension credit, child tax credit and council tax benefit. On the other hand, benefits for non-means-tested support for contingencies include state pension, disability allowance, carer’s allowance, winter fuel payment etc (Mirrlees et al, 2012). Because several families claim these benefits simultaneously, it is necessary to integrate the two systems into one manageable system. The recommended system

Economy of New York Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economy of New York - Essay Example The personal income per capita (how much the average worker earns per year) in 2005 was an average of $40,072. In 2007, the minimum wage rate in the New York state is $7.15, $2 more than the federal wage rate ($5.15). Within the US, New York state’s economy grew 3.3%, while the value for the US is 3.5%. Thus, this places the New York state in fifth position just after Maryland. New York is a very rich state with a growing economy: it would rank as the 16th largest economy in the world if it were to be considered as an independent nation. New Yorks most popular products are: 1) in agriculture, dairy products, livestock and vegetables; 2) in industry, printing and publishing, scientific instruments, electric equipment and machinery, chemical products; and 3) tourism. The largest export markets for the state’s products are Canada, the UK, Japan, Israel and Switzerland, which imported products for a value of 30.2, 3.3, 2.6, 2.4 and 1.8 billion dollars, respectively. In fact, Canada is a very important partner since it receives approximately 23% of the exports of the state1. Also, Canadian tourism is very beneficial economically for New York. Canadians are believed to spend $500 million every year during their visits to the state. New York’s most popular exports are: foodstuffs, commodities, diamonds and other minerals, manufactured goods and automobile parts. New Yorks largest imports are: oil, gold, aluminum, natural gas, electricity and lumber. Inflation, an index that compares prices with spending power, rose 3.1% at the end of February 2007with respect to the previous year. The Consumer Price Index, which is a measure of the price of a selection of items purchased by a typical consumer, increased 3.3% with respect to the same period (News–Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007). Overall, this means that life in the state of New York is 3% more expensive in 2007 than in 2006. Similarly to the increases observed in house prices in

The business communication report of International Committee of the Essay

The business communication report of International Committee of the Red Cross - Essay Example Center of discussion in this paper is International Committee of the Red Cross as a privately owned humanitarian organization based in Switzerland. Considering the overall nature of the work and its mandate, Red Cross has to effectively communicate with different stakeholders. Over the period of time, it has been able to develop communication mechanism within and outside the organization which allow it to better communicate its message to all the stakeholders. Its international communication is targeted at its employees and field staff who are constantly being informed about the organization through different means. Periodic meetings, email newsletters, video conferences as well as local internet network are some of the tools through which organization communicates with the field staff. External communication takes place both through the written as well as verbal forms of communication. Through its official spoke persons as well as written material, Red Cross continues to offer infor mation about the organization to media as well as other stakeholders. It is also critical to understand that most of the communication by Red Cross to external world takes place through face to face communication as it has to interact with the victims of crime and war through verbal communication. Further, a recommendation will be presented as to what type of communication methodologies can be used by the organization to effectively communicate with the target audience. ... Besides using face to face communication methods, ICRC has also been communicated with its users through its websites, news, blogs, social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Presence on different social media means therefore allows ICRC to communicate with different stakeholders at relatively low cost and better effectiveness. This business report will focus on what types of communications are used by the ICRC in order to communicate with its consumers. Further, there will be an analysis of what types of communication is more beneficial for the organization to effectively reach to their target audience. Further, a recommendation will be presented as to what type of communication methodologies can be used by the organization to effectively communicate with the target audience. International Committee of the Red Crescent Before discussing anything about the kind of communication types used by ICRC, it is important to provide a brief overview and background of the organization and h ow it actually communicates with its audience.( Torres, 2010) Red Cross is famous worldwide organisation for its purpose of aid in different pattern in society. They have gone beyond boundaries and served zillions regardless of age, gender, or any differentiation at all. This organization is flourished over years and it would have not been in the place it is today without its various communication’s tools. Their mode of communication with their consumers and also the external world are websites, news, blogs, social networks like Facebook, YouTube and so on. They do not use internet only but also events, volunteer workshops and other sort of campaigns. The official mission of Red Cross is to help the

Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Anthropology - Essay Example They are early hominids having common origin and overlapping with early human species even though they are not the direct ancestors. Homo habilis fossils evidence found in Africa is generally sketchy, but they are the closest representation of the early form that is related to human. Homo erectus also developed in Africa and later moved to Asia the oldest fossil evidence were found in Africa, later other fossil evidence were found in Asia. Homo sapiens are spread into different forms known as archaic, early modern through to modern (Adds et al, 141). They spread from Africa and from Asia then into Europe and finally, in modern times into other spheres of the earth. Neanderthal man is known mainly from Europe with an eastern distribution to the extent of central Asia. There is a distinct evolutionary trend in the species of the genus Homo from the early Homo habilis through Homo erectus to Neanderthal man and later Homo sapiens (Adds et al, 141). Significant developments in the evolution of the genus Homo interacted with the enormous changes in climate –that is cold climates alternating with warm climate, this is because of successive Ice Ages (Adds et al 142). Moreover, fluctuating temperatures led to changing sea levels, during a glacial period, sea levels were lower and there were land connections between some of the major continents. The evolution of hominoids from their extinct ancestors to human form as is known today has these features the enlargement of the brain size, growth of bipedalism. Increase usage of manipulative skills of hands, becoming upright, growth and diversity of language together the use of complex features and characters and other intellectual activity connected to the modern day human being. Fossil evidence of the Laetoli footprints and the skeleton of Lucy an Australopithecine give evidence to the early hominids ancestors

Dehydrogenase in yeast Essay Example for Free

Dehydrogenase in yeast Essay During respiration, hydrogen atoms are removed from glucose molecules by enzymes called dehydrogenases and passed to various chemicals called hydrogen acceptors. As the hydrogen atoms pass from one hydrogen acceptor to another, energy is made available for chemical reactions in the cell. In this way, substances such as glucose provide energy for vital reactions in living organisms. In this experiment, a dye called methylene blue acts as an artificial hydrogen acceptor. When this dye is reduced by accepting hydrogen atoms it goes colourless. (a) Place about 30 mm of yeast suspension in a test-tube and, using a test-tube holder, heat this suspension over a small Bunsen flame until the liquid boils for about half a minute. Then cool the tube under the tap. (b) Label three test-tubes 1-3. (c) Using a graduated pipette or syringe, place 2 cm3 of the boiled yeast suspension in tube 1. (d) Using the graduated pipette or syringe, draw up 4 cm3 unboiled yeast suspension and place 2 cm3 in tube 2 and 2 cm3 in tube 3. (e) Rinse the pipette or syringe and use it to place 2 cm3 distilled water in tubes 1 and 2. (f) With the pipette or syringe, place 2 cm3 1 % glucose solution in tube 3. (g) Prepare a water bath by mixing hot and cold water from the tap to obtain a temperature between 35 and 45  °C. Place all three tubes in this water bath. Rinse the pipette or syringe. (h) Copy the table given below into your notebook. (i) After 5 minutes draw up 6 cm3 methylene blue solution in the pipette or syringe and place 2 cm3 in each tube. Shake all three tubes thoroughly and return them to the water bath, noting the time as you do so. Do not shake the tubes again. (j) Watch the tubes to see how long it takes for the blue colour to disappear, leaving the creamy colour of the yeast. A thin film of blue colour at the surface of the tube may be ignored but the tubes should not be moved. Record the times in your table. (k) The experiment may be repeated by simply shaking all the tubes again until the blue colour returns. |Tube |Contents |Time for methylene blue to go colourless Experiment 14. Discussion 1 Why was distilled water added to tubes 1 and 2? 2 What causes the methylene blue solution to go colourless (according to the introduction on p. 14.01)? 3 How do you explain the results with tube 1? 4 In which of tubes 2 and 3 was the methylene blue decolourized more rapidly? How can this result be explained? 5 If the hydrogen atoms for the reduction of methylene blue come from  glucose, why should the methylene blue in tube 2 become decolourized at all? 6 What do you think would be the effect of increasing the glucose concentration in tube 3? Explain your answer. 7 How could you extend the experiment to see if enzymes in yeast are capable of reducing methylene blue? 8 Why, do you think, the colour retuned on shaking the tubes? Experiment 14. Dehydrogenase in yeast preparation Outline Methylene blue, acting as a hydrogen acceptor, is decolourized during the respiration of yeast. Addition of small amounts of substrate increases the rate of decolourization. Prior knowledge An elementary idea of respiration as a process which releases energy during the breaking down of carbohydrates; yeast is a microscopic living organism. Advance preparation and materials-per group 20% yeast suspension* 0.005% methylene blue solution+ (prepared 1~2 days ahead) 10 cm3 1 % glucose solution distilled water 10 cm3 Apparatus-per group test-tube rack and 4 test-tubes Bunsen burner 3 labels or spirit marker graduated pipette or syringe 5-10cm3 test-tube holder beaker or jar, for water to rinse pipette or syringe -per class clock Result The methylene blue: in tubes 2 and 3 should be decolourized in a few minutes with tube 3 changing first. * Add 40 g dried yeast and 0.4 g potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4) to 200 cm3 distilled water in a tall 600 cm3 (or larger) beaker (a large jam jar will do). Cover the mouth of the container with aluminium foil and bubble air through the yeast suspension for one or two days using an aquarium aerator. Observe the suspension from time to time during the first two hours and control the air flow to prevent the yeast suspension frothing out of the jar. +Dissolve 0.05 g in 1 litre of distilled water. Methylene blue stains skin and clothing. Lab coats should be worn Experiment 14. Discussion answers 1 The addition of distilled water to tubes 1 and 2 keeps the concentration of yeast and methylene blue the same in all three tubes. 2 The methylene blue accepts hydrogen atoms removed from glucose molecules during respiration. The reduced form of methylene blue is colourless. 3 Boiling will have killed the yeast. Dead yeast is therefore incapable of carrying out one or more stages in the transfer of hydrogen from glucose to methylene blue. (A similar answer may be given in terms of enzymes.) 4 Tube 3 will probably lose its blue colour first. Presumably if the hydrogen atoms for reducing methylene blue come from glucose, additional glucose will mean that more hydrogen atoms are available and decolourization will be more rapid. 5 Respiration will continue in yeast cells, using their own carbohydrate reserves such as glycogen. 6 It might be expected that increasing the glucose concentration would increase the rate of decolourization up to the point where all the available enzyme or enzymes were being used, or where the concentration of glucose was sufficient to plasmolyse the yeast cells. 7 If enzymes (dehydrogenases) are involved, it should be possible to extract them from yeast by grinding some dried yeast with sand and distilled water, and filtering. This could be the subject of further experiment, particularly if little or none of the carbohydrate reserve in yeast comes through in the filtrate. 8 Shaking the tubes introduces more oxygen which re-oxidises the methylene blue

Illiteracy in Egypt | An overview

Illiteracy in Egypt | An overview Illiteracy in Egypt Illiteracy is a huge problem, which face the developing countries and of course some of the developed countries. Who we can call an illiterate? An illiterate is a person who is unable to read or write. The rate of illiteracy is high in Egypt especially for women. The rate of illiteracy in Egypt in 2002 is approximately 34.2, while 45.4 percent is women. According to Arab Human Development Report; the illiteracy in the Arab world has reached 65 million, two thirds of them women. The illiteracy problem is caused by many things; one of the causes is poverty and another one is the lack of education of the parents. For example poverty; people want their children to learn, but can not afford enough money to make that dream come true. For the poor parents, it is a dream to make his children enter a school, because he wants his son to achieve something he could not do. This is a reason why illiteracy is high in the rural areas in Egypt. This is not only in rural areas, but also in big citie s in Cairo and the main reason for that is poverty; people cannot afford money to pay for their children school expenses, so they do not enter school and of course they become illiterate. This essay will first demonstrate the causes behind illiteracy and will try to find solutions for this problem. There are a number of causes behind the increased rate of illiteracy in Egypt, one of which is family pressure on women specifically from husbands, most of the husbands do not want their wifes to learn, specially the illiterate husbands. In the rural areas it is nearly impossible to convince the husband to attach his wife to a learning system. The husband is convinced that his wife has no need to learn. She only needs to serve her house, so what is the need of learning. Most of the girls wants to learn, but as they grow this feeling vanishes with time. Therefore in most of the cases the illiterate husband is the cause for the illiteracy of his daughter and wife. Another aspect of the problem is that husbands do not want to learn, they say why to learn, while I got my wife and my farm to look after, learning is not important. Some people at first are convinced to join educational system, but after some time they leave. Because they are bored, or they do not understand what they were taught or the more advanced group of them leaves after learning how to read and write.† To convince people of the importance of staying with classes is one of the toughest obstacles we face â€Å"(Rashed, 2002, issue no. 604). There is another problem which is the most of the people leaves after they are able to read and write, and he or she think that this is enough, but this is a problem, because if he or she did not exercise a lot he will forget what he learned and that is the ability to read and write. You can teach people how to read and write in a nine-month program, but according to a recently conducted field study by WSA, if people stop their education at that point, there is a big chance they will forget what they have been taught in a period ranging from six to 12 months (Rashed, 2002, issue no. 604). Some of the illiterate people are wealthy, they does not see a reason for learning, as they demonstrate it â€Å"what did the educated people get? This is a result of the socioeconomic problems in the country† (Abdoun, 2009, Daily News Egypt). That kind of people is nearly impossible to convince, because he thinks that he got enough money, so he think why do I need to learn? I got enough money for my self and my children. But what he does not know that his children will suffer after he dies. Because of course he prevents his children from learning. If he has a son from he make him works with him and if he has a daughter he will make her wait for marriage. In large cities like Egypt most people are poor; maybe due to the low income. People do not find money to spend on their children to learn. Nowadays in high school every student should take a lesson after school to understand the subject, because he did not understand what he was taught in school. Most of the parent can not a fford to pay for that lesson so the student fail and leaves the school. Illiteracy has many negative effects, not only on the person himself, but also for his own country; first of all, if a country has a high illiteracy rate, it will be very hard for this country to develop, because the countries develop with its people, not with itself. If people have knowledge they can do anything like gain a lot of money, invent new things, which leads to the development of their country. Second, illiteracy make people naà ¯ve easy to trick, because if you ask a question to an illiterate person and he does not know the answer, anything you say he will believe it, so he can be trick because of his illiteracy. Finally, illiterate people can not be a well known person Can an illiterate person be a president for example? Of course not, because he does not have any information to give or to convince people with. Although there are many solutions to eradicate illiteracy, not many of them work. Why is that? Because only a small group of people accept to learn, while the other leaves after a small period or after they learned basic concept, like reading and writing and those are partially illiterate. Illiteracy eradication programs have spread in Egypt to help illiterate people, but not all of it has been successful. One of these programs tries to employ young graduates and teach them, how to teach illiterate people. But the program is not that successful, why? Because of many reasons; first the graduates are young so they lack training, of course they will be trained, but they do not have the experience of an old teacher on how to teach, not only teach, but teach and deal with an illiterate person. Most of the graduated students look for money and jobs but they did not find what they desired, so they look for any kind of job to get money. After graduating, I didnt find a job. I signed up for the Century Project when I found out it paid LE150 a month.(Nafie, 2003, Issue No. 654).thus most of the graduated student look for just work, so they might not concentrate on the people they are teaching, of course they take courses on how to deal with the illiterate people, but that might not be enough. Because experience is the key to make people learn and make them have a desire in learning. I dont think any of the volunteers really believe in the cause. Most of us are doing it just because we need the money. (Nafie, 2003, Issue No. 654).as one of the volunteers mentioned, if they did not believe in the cause, will they really succeed in what they are doing? One main goal the person whose job is to eradicate the illiteracy should have, this goal is that he really wants to eradicate illiteracy, not just take it as a job. Another main problem is the eradicating programs itself. Maybe it does not suit that illiterate person himself; maybe he can not understand from the person that is teaching him, maybe the time is not suitable for him. It is not just provide the people with classes then leave them. It is providing people with classes and monitors them see what they need, are they comfortable with the way they learn, do they need anything else. The main idea is to motivate and encourage them and make them fell comfortable and make the classes and the schedules suitable for everyone. If this is achieved they will gain a lot from what they are learning. â€Å"An important area is the development of flexible programs which suit different learners needs and interests, meaning flexible schedules and convenient locations† (Abdoun, 2008, Daily News Egypt). There are other ways of eradicating illiteracy that is claimed to work; one of them is by advertising and providing lessons through television.† Utilization of the television channels and broadcasting as a teaching aid for distance education, through the introduction of literacy lessons and educational drama, thus covering all governorates at various periods to enable illiterates follow them regardless of time or place† (UNESCO Egypt report 1).This is good and a new way of learning, but the main question is does most the illiterates have television and if they have, do they have the time to watch literacy lessons on it? Of course not, because most of the illiterate parts in Egypt are concentrated in the rural areas, most of these people are concerned with their farms and work. Moreover most of these people will not want to see these programs on the television. They will say why I should waste my time on watching some program I do not even understand. The rural areas in Eg ypt do not care so much about technology some of them might still be using radios and do not even have a television or even care to have one. They are more concerned with their work, families and their own problems. To make a program like that work it needs awareness, how to know which time this program is aired and how to understand from it. Because when an illiterate person starts to learn, especially old people (people above the age of 30) they find most of the course or the program very hard to understand, so they start to fear what is coming and they ask themselves how I am going to understand the complex parts, when I can not even understand the easy part. Many ways of eradicating illiteracy had failed, because people do not have their expectations meet. This paragraph will provide few solutions, from all the information gathered about how to eradicate illiteracy. First of all, women is not like men they are easily convinced, if someone sit with them and talk and understand their problem, they might provide a solution for them.The best suited for this mission is one who is not working for money, but the one whose gladly dedicating his life to solve this problem, who believes that he or she can solve it if he or she tries. These descriptions mostly applied on female instructors; because they are enthusiastic and realistic about their work. According to one of the volunteers she said â€Å"we will make the project succeed. As long as there are a few like us, who are keen on teaching those in need, a lot of people will be able to overcome illiteracy. (Nafie, 2003, Issue No. 654).Other are men volunteer for the illiteracy eradicating program, which this essay explained some of the works for money and the others work because they did no t find a job. These kinds of people must be removed and replaced with people such as these women who do not work for money; they work to educate illiterate people. Another one of the female volunteers said â€Å"the money was not a motivational factor.†What can you do with LE150 these days anyway? she asked. Those who were doing it for the money, she said, dont deserve the job† (Nafie, 2003, Issue No. 654).Many women do not work for money, so they are the best candidates for the jobs. The question now how to convince husbands; by telling and showing him examples of literate people and demonstrate what his wife will be if she is literate, how she will understand him and her children better. That also applies for him, what he will be after he is a literate person how it will help him with his work and also make him a better person. Fighting illiteracy is not to make people learn how to read and write, it is a long way that involves convincing the illiterate women to go on with studying in the program, and convince the husbands about the essential of letting their wives continue their education. One big way of illiteracy eradicating is the family support. If the family is supportive enough the illiterate member of this family will continue to learn, not just stop by learning how to read and write and if they continue to support this illiterate member in their family he becomes a fully literate person, it means that he will have a degree. For the wealthy people who are illiterate they should understand if they make their children learn that should make things easy for him. His son will be able to take after his father job and even expand it. Because he learned in details how this job works. In the end the illiteracy eradicating process depends on the instructors and how can they convince and encourage people to learn. To sum up , illiteracy is a huge problem which is facing Egypt, but not only Egypt, the whole world is facing that problem. There are many problems which are causing illiteracy in Egypt, one of them is family pressure on women specifically from husbands, another one is the husband themselves dont want to learn and there is the rich illiterate people who do not care about learning. The effect of illiteracy is huge, a country with huge rate of illiteracy will not be developed country and illiteracy makes people naà ¯ve easy to trick. The illiterate person will be as he is until he dies without doing anything for himself or his country. There is some solutions that did not work for eradicating illiteracy, for example; people that only work for money not to eradicate illiteracy they are not dedicated to their job, so they will teach without care about the person in front of them. Also there is the television lesson for illiterate people, which illiterate people might not understand it, another thing the government provides programs for eradicating illiteracy that do not suit all the illiterate people. Finally, there are some solutions for eradicating illiteracy. For women they are easily convinced, if someone understands their thought and what they need they can easily be convinced with the idea of learning. For the husbands, they must see an example of literate husband, to convince them what they or their family will become if they become literate. The illiteracy eradicating process depends on the instructors and how can they convince and encourage people to learn. References Rashed, Dina (2002), Life choices, Al Ahram weekly Retrieved (25/12/2009) from http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/604/fe2.htm Abdoun, Safaa (2008), Illiteracy eradication programs struggle with the numbers, daily news Egypt Retrieved (25/12/2009) from http://www.dailystaregypt.com/printerfriendly.aspx?ArticleID=18209 Abdoun, Safaa (2009), Egypts illiteracy rate drops slightly to 26 pct, daily news Egypt Retrieved (25/12/2009) from http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=25852 Nafie, Reem (2003), Illiteracy revisited, Al Ahram weekly Retrieved (26/12/2009) from http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/654/eg2.htm UNESCO (2000), country reports Retrieved (26/12/2009) from http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/egypt/rapport_1_2.htm

The History Of Molecular Modeling Biology Essay

The History Of Molecular Modeling Biology Essay Molecular modeling is a collection of science and art that study molecular structure and function by using computational technique to generate a realistic model of molecule based on molecular properties and behavior. A special computer graphics application and viewer is required to study the image of molecular structure and chemical process. Normally, molecular modeling is applied in field that related to drug design and computational biology who focus on study of molecular structure, dynamic, properties, biological activity (e.g. protein folding, protein stability, protein recognition, and structure prediction, structure determination), and new molecular system design. This is because modeling can support a systematic way to investigate the molecular structure, flexibility and function. The computational approach that used in molecular modeling consists of molecular mechanic, quantum mechanics, and molecular simulation. Molecular mechanic is based on empirical result to model the molecular system through motion of an object. For instance, potential energy is calculated by using force field method. Quantum mechanics is described by using wave function and it is important for understand how the atoms are covalently combine to form molecule. Its example is ab initio and semi-empirical quantum mechanics. Molecular simulation is another computational technique which includes molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo. However, to date, molecular modeling is more concerns to the use of a variety of methods to deduce the atomic information of a system which includes all the approaches mentioned above. To know more about molecular modeling, we are advised to know some of its history so we can make sense of molecular modeling as we know it today. In 1858, Archibald Scott Couper, Friedrich August Kekulà © von Stradonitz, and Aleksandr Mikhailovich Butlerov introduced chemical structure with a structure rule that involves the link of carbons and other atoms. Louis Pasteur modified the molecular structure theory in 1860. In 1865, August Wilhelm Hofmann discovered ball and stick model and color scheme. And Alder and Wainwright performed simulation technique on hard spheres model in 1959. Lifson, Scheraga, Allinger, Levitt, Warshel and others introduced the force field concept in 1960. Whilst in 1970, Rahman and Stillinger described the molecular dynamic simulation of water. In 1971, Protein Data Bank (PDB) was established. In 1977 and 1984, water force field was developed by Berendsen and Jorgensen respectively. At same year, Warshel and colleagues published the concept of protein elec trostatics and enzyme-substrate complex. At late 1980s, high speed computer, program, technology innovation, and a variety of algorithm were introduced. From paragraph above, we only know some important year between late 1850s to 1980s. From 1970s onwards, there is a proposed expectation curve as shown in Figure 1.1. As computational method and technology are more available, the expectation towards biomolecular modeling field was continued to rise especially from 1980s to 1990s. Structure based rational drug design was then introduced. It was expected to replace the less efficient methods. However, unrealistically disappointment was followed. Then scientists undergo a recovery phase where Human Genome Project was introduced and new technology with fast workstation was published. With these, a steady progress of productivity is emerged until today in order to reach the realistic expectation. In addition, it is important to know that the latest molecular modeling trend is focusing on the development and implementation of virtual reality whose enhance the three dimensional visualization. Nowadays, molecular modeling has been altered the way to conduct a research, that is choosing the experiment with highest probability of success before perform it. So, there is a demand to have a better and faster program design. It is important to know that molecular model need not be commercial or costly to prepare, inexpensive materials also possible to produce useful model and result. Question 2: Molecular graphics and molecular viewer If we said that molecular modeling is creation of computational model based on molecular properties and behavior, then molecular graphic is the graphical depiction of molecular modeling. Molecular graphic is a discipline of study molecule through visualization of molecules and their component parts. It is refers to three-dimensional depictions of molecules that made to examine and understand their response during reaction and interaction. To date, molecular graphic has been replaced some function of physical molecule model as it is portability and easy to interact with analysis result. In the early stage of molecular graphic, computer graphic tool was dominated by vector graphical representation based on calligraphic technology. During that time, only line and dot were shown. And main frame computer was required to manipulate the molecular structure before submit to graphic hardware. Until the founded of Molecular Graphics Society (known as Molecular Graphics and Modeling Society today) in 1983 and present of Journal of Molecular Graphics, new graphic techniques, hardware device and graphical software were introduced. This discovery allows the interactivity on the basis of space filling molecular model. As we know that, molecular objects are in three-dimensional structure. So molecular graphic representation (MGR) is concerns to the multi-dimensionality in order to provide more molecular information. Graphical excellence is used as a guideline for the MGR development. It is well designed to present data and it consists of complex idea that able to communicate with clarity, precision, and efficiency. Basically, the graphical display will shows data, induces viewer to have greatest number of idea, makes large data set to be coherent, encourage eyeball technique to compare data by using human eye, integrates statistical and verbal description of a data set, and reveals data at different levels to give more details. There are several types of molecular model that relate to molecular graphic in order to combine the computational technique with graphic art. Here, I will briefly discuss a few types that commonly used. Ball and stick model is the most widely used molecular model. It displays the three-dimensional position of atoms and bonds that link between them. Typically, atom is represented by sphere with specific color and bond is represented by rod. The rod can be rotate to provide the insight of bond flexible. The Figure 2.1 shows the proline in ball and stick model and its structural formula. Black color represents carbon, white represents hydrogen, blue represents nitrogen, and red represents oxygen. Stick model (refer Figure 2.2) is similar to ball and stick model but without ball as it represents all atoms and bonds by using rod with different color scheme. Space filling model (refer Figure 2.2) is a type of  three-dimensional  molecular model  where the  atoms  are represented by van der Waals spheres with different color and join directly to one another. Its measurement scale is the same as the real atom scale. It shows the space that atom occupied instead of shows the chemical bond. Wire frame model (refer Figure 2.3) is similar to stick model which shows the connection of atom by different color scheme but with thinner bond (connector). This model is convenient for drawing large molecules. Chicken wire model (refer Figure 2.4) is another method to visualize molecular model by drawing the polygon mesh on surface. Its shape is similar to the regular  hexagonal  pattern with mesh  structure. Ribbon model (refer Figure 2.5) is a three dimensional schematic molecular model that used to represent protein structure. It shows the path and organization of protein backbone, and serves as visual framework that provides details of atomic structure. Coiled ribbon represents ÃŽ ±-helix,  arrow represents ÃŽ ²-strand, and thin tubes represents loop. It shows the visual basic of molecular structure such as twist and fold. Molecular viewer is the molecular graphic software that used to visualize molecular structure. It is selected based on the size of molecule and the task to do. Here, I will briefly discuss a few types of viewer that commonly used. RasMol is a powerful research tool for visualization of protein, nucleic acid, and small molecules. It is easy to use while able to produce high quality three-dimensional image. It is a free viewing system for PDB coordinate files. Chime is a molecular viewer that modified RasMol code to allow visualization of molecule through web browser. It able to display three-dimensional and interactive molecular model from webpage. Jmol is a Java-based molecular viewer that allows visualization of molecule through web browser (like Chime) or stand-alone computer (like RasMol). It supports many different source files such as PDB format to create molecular model. Cn3D is NCBIs three-dimensional structure viewer. It allows the display of three-dimensional structure, sequence, and sequence alignment with annotation and alignment editing feature from NCBIs Entrez. Swiss PDB Viewer or DeepView is a molecular viewer that provide user friendly interface which allows analyzing several proteins or multiple models at same time. It supports alignment which based on individual residue, main chain, or entire protein. It also can align different homologous protein structure. It can be used as a helper application for browser. Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD) is designed for visualization of large structure molecule such as protein and lipid. Except visualization, VMD also can analyze molecular dynamic simulation, act as graphical front end by display and animate molecule, and sequence browsing. Question 3: Protein structure with reference to hemoglobin and the prion protein Protein structure is biomolecular structure of protein molecule which made up of amino acid polymers. It is critical to its activity and biological function. X-ray crystallography  and NMR spectroscopy are technique that used to determine the protein structure. Basically, the complex protein structure is characterized into four levels of organization (refer Figure 3.1). Primary structure of protein is a linear sequence of amino acid structural unit that held together by peptide bond. It is starting from amino terminus (N) and end with carboxyl terminus (C). The sequence of amino acid will determines primary structure of protein. Change in a single position of amino acid will alter the function and activity of protein, some might cause disease. Secondary structure of protein is local conformation of polypeptide chain. It defined by  the pattern of hydrogen bond that formed between peptide backbones. The polypeptide folds locally into stable structure will form alpha helix, beta pleated sheet, and turn conformation. Tertiary structure of protein is a global three-dimensional structure that formed when secondary structures are folded in three-dimensional space. This folding is triggered by hydrophobic interaction and stabilized by hydrogen bond, van der Waal interaction, disulfide bond, and charge-charge interaction. Tertiary structure can be organized by more than one domain. Domain region can be alpha helix, beta sheet or mixed. Tertiary structure refers to each individual domain as well as to the complete configuration of whole protein. Whilst motif is small structure that plays important role in protein prediction. Quaternary structure of protein refers to regular association of more than two polypeptide chains that fold and coil to form a complex. The interaction between subunits can be identical or different. Quaternary structure is known as a stable three-dimensional structure of multi subunit protein. Hemoglobin is example of protein quaternary structure that found in red blood cells who acts as oxygen transport molecule. It carries oxygen from lung to release in tissue, and binds to carbon dioxide in tissue then releases back to lung. This process is characterized by cooperative interaction of polypeptide chains (subunit) by change their structure to make hemoglobin to be properly function. Hemoglobin (Figure 3.2) is an allosteric protein. It is a tetramer that consists of two types of subunits, two ÃŽ ±-chains and two ÃŽ ²-chains that held together by non-polar interaction and hydrogen bond. Each subunit is arranged as alpha helix structural segment and forms a hydrophobic cleft to allow the attachment of a heme  prosthetic group that consists of an iron atom who acts as oxygen binding site. Each of the subunits can carry one molecule of oxygen. Actually, there has no contact between same type of chain, that is alpha-alpha chain, and beta-beta chain. The contact region occurs between alpha-chain and beta-chain such as alpha1beta1  and alpha1beta2. The alpha1beta2  contact region acts as a switch between deoxy (T) structure to the oxy (R) structure. At T structure or tense state, binding of oxygen is difficult. While oxygen is favored at R structure or relax state as binding of oxygen will trigger the affinity of next oxygen to hemoglobin. Transition from T structure to R structure is triggered by stereo chemical changes at the heme group as shown in Figure 3.3. Like other proteins, hemoglobin is created by DNA in body. Alteration of amino acid will cause blood related disorder such as sickle cell anemia. This disease is results from a mutation at sixth residue in the ÃŽ ² hemoglobin monomer. Proteinaceous infectious virion (prion) is an infectious protein that causes neurodegenerative disease such as Scrapie and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in mammal, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob (CJD) and Kuru in human. Prion is known as an infectious agent that infects protein, without the transfer of nucleic acid genome, and it causes other proteins to be misfolded. Proteinaceous infectious particle (PrP), a normal cellular protein, consists of around 250 amino acids is found in our body whose involve in the spread of prion disease. Prion theory states that PrP is sole causative agent of prion diseases. If prion is in normal or stable shape (PrPc), it will not cause disease. Whilst if prion is flipped and folded into abnormal conformation (PrPsc), it will cause disease as it induces other proteins to change their conformation and becomes PrPsc as well. This translation is an exponential process where ÃŽ ±-helical and coil structures are refolded into ÃŽ ²-sheet. PrPc  is the endogenous form of prion protein (PrP), while PrPsc  is the misfolded form of PrP. PrPc and PrPsc are known as protein isoform with tertiary structure characteristic. They are categorized as same protein but with different conformation as their folding region is different as shown in Figure 3.4. PrPc contains more ÃŽ ±-helical and coil structure  and PrPsc has more ÃŽ ²-sheet structure. Prion structure is extremely stable. It is highly resistant to denaturation either by heat, ultraviolet light, or radiation. This characteristic makes prion difficult to be eliminated. Furthermore, prion comes in different strains. Each of the strain has slightly different structure. In other words, there has no effective treatment to fight with prion diseases. Question 4: Protein databases Database is an organized collection of data which allows the convenient access of user. Database can be classified into a variety of type. Here, we only focus on the protein data type. There are three types of protein database, that is protein structure database, protein sequence database, and protein motif database. Before discuss the three types of databases, I would like to briefly describe Protein Data Bank (PDB) which is the primary protein database. Protein Data Bank (PDB) is a worldwide repository of three-dimensional structural data of biological macromolecules. Until March 12, 2013, there are 88837 structures in PDB, in which 82224 are protein structure or 92.56% of PDB structure is protein. All the protein structures are obtained through x-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, cryoelectron microscopy (cryoEM), hybrid technique, and other experimental method. Since 1971, PDB is under the management of Bookhaven. Until 1999, Research Collaboratory of Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB PDB) takes over this task. In 2003, Worldwide PDB (wwPDB) maintains and formalizes the international collaboration by involve RCSB PDB (USA), PDB Japan (PDBj), PDB Europe (PDBe), and Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank (BMRB) as members of wwPDB. They act as distribution centers of PDB data. PDB acts as a very important resource to organize and share molecule structure data especially in structural biology area. It serves as a global community to allow scientist to share their research. Currently, the newly determined protein structure will be deposited into PDB data before the scientific paper is published. Except three-dimensional database, PDB also known as primary database for protein structure information. Derived or secondary database will use the PDB data and categorize it in a different way based on their own classification. Protein structure database groups protein based on the similar protein structure and common evolutionary origin. Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP), CATH, and DALI Domain Dictionary (DDD) databases are the three main protein structure classification databases. But here I will only discuss SCOP and CATH. SCOP is a repository that organizes protein structure hierarchically based on their structure and evolutionary origin. The classification of SCOP is manually. With assistant of computer tool, SCOP able to visual and compare the protein structure consistency. The latest version of SCOP is 1.75 that released on June 2009 with 38221 PDB entries and 110800 domains. The source of protein structure is from Protein Data Bank. The classification of SCOP has six levels that are class, fold, superfamily, family, protein, and species. There are eleven classes in SCOP hierarchy which differentiate by fold type: alpha ÃŽ ±, beta ÃŽ ², alpha and beta (ÃŽ ±/ÃŽ ²), alpha plus beta (ÃŽ ±+ÃŽ ²), multi-domain protein, membrane protein, small protein, coiled coil protein, low resolution structure, peptide, and designed protein. Between the eleven classes, only the first seven classes are known as true class and others serve as place holder for protein domain that have not been classified. Proteins are classified into group based on their structure similarity. The unit of classification is protein domain. The shape of domain is known as fold. Proteins share common fold if they have same major secondary structures in same arrangement and same topological connections. Superfamily is probable has common evolutionary origin which share common fold and perform similar function. Family shows a clearly evolutionary relationship of proteins with more than 30% sequence identity. Protein level will connect proteins through similar function and structure. The last level, species, is grouped according to unique sequence. CATH is a semi-automated protein structure classification in which the protein domain is classified based on class (C), architecture (A), topology (T), and homologous superfamily (H). The latest version of CATH is 3.5 that released on September 20, 2011 with 51334 PDB entries, 173536 CATH domains, and 26226 CATH superfamilies. CATH has four classes, they are alpha, beta, alpha and beta, and few secondary structure. The class of protein domain is determined by its secondary structure composition. Architecture level describes the overall shape of domain structure that determined by secondary structure orientation. Then, domain will be grouped into topology level based on secondary structure shape and connectivity. Homologous superfamily level will then grouped protein domains together based on similar structure, function, and has common ancestor. Protein sequence database can be divided into manually and automatically annotated database. UniProtKB/SwissProt and Protein Information Resource-International Protein Sequence Database (PIR-PSD) are example of manually annotated database. UniProtKB/TrEMBL and NCBI GenPept are example of automatically annotated database. Here, I will discuss the UniProt Knowledgebase (UniProtKB) as example. UniProtKB is a protein sequence and functional information database. The data type that captured in is known as protein annotation. UniProtKB consists of two sections: UniProtKB/SwissProt which can be reviewed and UniProtKB/TrEMBL which cannot be reviewed. Most of the sequence in UniProtKB is derived from International Nucleotide Sequence Database (INSD) and some from PDB database. All these sequences will be automatically added into UniProtKB/TrEMBL. Then the TrEMBL records can be manually selected to be integrated into SwissProt record. UniProtKB/SwissProt is a high curated and non-redundant protein sequence database. The release 2013_03 of March 6, 2013 has 539616 sequence entries. It combines the experimental result, computational analysis, and scientific literature in one entry. It provides all relevant information about the searched protein as the sequence form same gene and same species are merged into same entry. Its file format such as FASTA is downloadable by public. UniProtKB/TrEMBL is a high quality computational analyze and redundant protein sequence database. That means, TrEMBL is computer annotated supplement to SwissProt but with multiple entries for sam eprotein. The release 2013_03 of TrEMBL on March 6, 2013 has 32153798 sequence entries. However, its entry is not redundant to SwissProt. Therefore, the entry of UniProtKB on release 2013_03 will be the combination entry of SwissProt and TrEMBL that is 32693414. Protein motif database also known as pattern and profile database is secondary database that derived from conserved pattern obtained from multiple sequence alignment. It is useful for the classification of protein sequence into family level. PROSITE and BLOCKS are example of motif based database. PROSITE is a protein domain, family and functional site database which comprise of biologically significant protein site, pattern, and profile. It analyzes protein sequence for known motif. PROSITE classification is based on observation. Similar protein sequence will be group into family. And protein domain is classified based on families that share common ancestor or has functional attribute. PROSITE records give the information of structure and function for a particular protein. It is part of the  ExPASy  proteomics  analysis servers and it used the annotation of domain features of SwissProt entry. Up to date, the latest version is release 20.91 of March 4, 2013 with 1661 entries, 1308 patterns, 1053 profiles, and 1057 ProRule. ProRule is the case rule that provides extra information about function and structural of critical amino acids. For instance, it contains the information related to biologically meaningful residue such as active sites, co-factor-binding sites,  and post-translational  modification sites. It helps the protein function determination. And it able to generate annotation automatically based on the PROSITE motifs. PROSITE database is used when identify the possible function of newly discovered protein, and determine activity of known protein. We also can derive a signature or conserved sequence from protein in order to classify protein. This is because each PROSITE signature is linked to an annotation document, where has all related information of the particular protein. PROSITE offers tool that can function for motif detection and protein sequence analysis. The most common application or archive is fingerprint that act as evidence to identify an individual. Appendix: Figure 1.1: Expectation curve for biomolecular modeling and simulation File:L-proline-3D-balls.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Prolin_-_Proline.svg/121px-Prolin_-_Proline.svg.png Figure 2.1: Ball and stick model of proline Structural formula of proline Space filling model Stick modelhttp://www.rsc.org/ej/NJ/2003/b206570n/b206570n-f3.gif Figure 2.2: Stick model (left) and space filling model (right) of proline http://class.fst.ohio-state.edu/FST822/aa/btwf.gif Figure 2.3: Wire frame model http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4f/DMT_chicken_wire_mesh.png/227px-DMT_chicken_wire_mesh.pnghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Tubby-1c8z-pymol.png/160px-Tubby-1c8z-pymol.png Figure 2.4: Chicken wire model with stick model Figure 2.5: Ribbon model http://www.piercenet.com/media/ProStructureFig1.gif Figure 3.1: Four levels of protein structure Diagrammatic representation of the structure of hemoglobin Figure 3.2: Hemoglobin http://jr.stryker.tripod.com/images/TransitionRT.jpg Figure 3.3: Conformation transition from T structure to R structure PrPsc PrPcPrion structure Figure 3.4: Prion protein in abnormal conformation, PrPsc (left) and prion protein in normal conformation, PrPc (right)

International Criminal Justice Between Soviet Union, Afghanistan, and A

An analysis of International Aggression: The scope of International Criminal Justice Through the years, the overt and covert conflicts between the United States and the former Soviet Union was often coined in terms of international aggression. The Soviet invasions of Afghanistan lead to a renewal of Cold War hostility between the Soviet Union and America. Afghanistan made headlines in 1979 as it brought to the forefront, the Cold War sentiments with the continued efforts of then U.S.S.R. to spread communism. Aside from the different conflicts between various countries who were allies of either of these nations, it is important that we note the climate that existed and what grew out of it. In the early days of the Cold War, mistrust was rampant and the aura of suspicion permeated every corner of society. Reflecting back on those times, there are countless instances allegations of espionage and examples of radical citizens partaking in criminal activity to benefit the mother country became prevalent. Two such cases which gained much notoriety included the espionage trial of Alger Hiss as well as the trials of both Julius and wife, Ethel Rosenberg. During this period of unrest there was a vast East vs. West competition, with much tension between alliances. After WWII the relationship between the U. S. and the U.S.S.R. became known as the â€Å"Cold War†. From the Soviets’ point of view, Joseph Stalin saw the world as being divided between capitalists and imperialists on one side and on the other saw the communists and progressives. The U. S standpoint was clear as President Harry Truman stated â€Å"We are two opposed systems: one free and the other bent on subjugating other nations† (History CH DVD). The Geneva summit of 1959 wi... ...entire societies are being sacrificed in the wake of their actions. One has only to scrape the surface lightly to find evidence of the underlying mistrust amongst the key players today and widespread espionage that continues today, fueled by new acts of aggression. Within our own nation we find America on the forefront of undisclosed fraud in government and new revelations of misinformation being shared to fuel rhetoric. How do we move forward as a global society, not to repeat mistakes of the past? References: Arms, T.A. (1994) Encyclopedia of the cold war. New York: Facts on File Publishing Haynes, J.E., Klehr, H. (2006) Early cold war spies: The espionage trials that shaped American politics. New York: Cambridge (2006) In search of History: Spies Among Us (History Channel DVD) (2003) Night Flight from Moscow. Fonda, Henry. (Personal DVD)

Jessica Rodriguez Essay -- English Literature:

The Romanticism in Wordsworth Romantic poetry has very distinct details which set it apart from previous poetry. William Wordsworth’s poem, â€Å"I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud,† is full of the Romantic characteristics which were so different during that time. The poem begins with the speaker â€Å"floating† along, as though he or she were a cloud, when he or she spots a â€Å"crowd/ †¦, of golden daffodils† (Wordsworth, 3,4). The speaker goes on to describe the daffodils and the lake that is beside them. The images of the daffodils return to mind during a difficult time , and cheers him up. It is important to note that the speaker is speaking in first person. As this is a commonly used technique in romantic poetry, it is easy to assume that the speaker is also the poet. One key characteristic that is shown in this poem is optimism. The poem begins on a melancholic note with the use of the word â€Å"Lonely,† but takes an uplifting spirit soon after. There is an optimistic feeling through the rest of the poem. By using the adjective â€Å"golden† to describe the daffodils, one is caused to think that the daffodils are shining or are bright. The speaker continues by describing them as â€Å"Fluttering and dancing in the breeze† (6) and moving in a â€Å"sprightly dance† (12). These adjectives allow one to see them as joyous and happy. In the next stanza, the speaker states that although the waves beside the daffodils are â€Å"dancing,† the daffodils â€Å"out-did the sparkling waves in glee† (14). The poem ends happily, with the speaker’s heart being uplifted by the remembrance of the daffodils. There is much personification used in this poem. The daffodils, on several occasions, are referred to in a human sense. They are described as... ...oud† (1) he, â€Å"dances with the daffodils† (24). His imagination allows him an escape from the society and political strife that he is forced to live in. Although he physically cannot escape the everyday contention in his life, no element of society can cleave to his imagination. This poem offers much in the way of Romantic elements. Through the Romantic characteristics that are employed in this poem, one is able to fully understand the time in which the speaker was living. One is also able to truly feel and understand what the speaker is trying to convey. The emotion, with which the poem was written, provides one with a desire to pursue one’s own imagination. The ability to do so, while including so many of the Romantic components, causes this poem to be pleasant and enjoyable to read. Works Cited Wordsworth, William. â€Å"I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud.†

Review of Research Paper on Parkinsons Disease Treatment

Abstract Attempts to cure or slow down the progression of Parkinson’s disease have largely failed; researchers in this paper maintain this is obviously a direct result of the lack of insight into the pathogenesis of the disease. Parkinson’s disease is the product of the deaths of a number of dopaminergic (dopamine-secreting) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta region (SNc) of the brain. But what causes these deaths? In the paper â€Å"‘Rejuvenation’ protects neurons in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease,† Chen and researchers find that older neurons in the SNc are unusually reliant on calcium channels and that after blocking these channels, the cells are â€Å"rejuvenated† and begin acting like their juvenile counterparts; as a result, these cells become protected from Parkinson’s disease. Their research, thus, points not only to a possible cause of neuronal death in PD but also to a possible means of curing the disease. Causes / Risk Factors †¢ Genetics 15-25% of people who have the disease have a parent with the disease. Having a parent with the disease increases a persons risk by 3 fold. There has not been enough research done on the genetic causes of Parkinson’s Disease to say for a fact that they are directly correlated. When more research is done there may be more strong evidence, but it could go the complete other way as well. The Human Genome project should open many doors with the research of this disease once the funding is sufficient. †¢ Environmental factors According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, â€Å"Epidemiological research has identified several factors that may be linked to PD, including rural living, well water, herbicide use and exposure to pesticides.† They also state that a narc... ....org/AboutPD/causes.cfm> Mayo Clinic Staff, "Parkinsons Disease." Nervous System. 12 004 2007. Mayo Clinic. 1 Nov 2007 . Melanie, Brandabur. "Complementary and Alternative Medicine and Parkinson Disease." National Parkinson Foundation. 1 Nov 2007 . â€Å"Parkinson’s Disease.† MayoClinic.com. 12 April 2007. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 15 Nov. 2007. . â€Å"Parkinson’s Disease." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Nov. 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 Nov. 2007. . "What Causes Parkinson's Disease." 2007. Parkinson's Disease Foundation. 1 Nov 2007 .

General Description of the Community Essay

Target area being assessed by the author is hospice service in Sioux Falls and surrounding areas provided by Avera Mckennan. Hospice care is end-of-life care provided by health professionals and volunteers Hospice care provides medical services, emotional support, and spiritual resources for people who are in the last stages of terminal illness. Although most hospice patients are cancer patients, hospice accepts anyone regardless of age and type of disease. The goal of hospice treatment is to keep patient comfortable and improve quality of life. Hospice care tries to manage symptoms so that patient’s last days may be spent with dignity, surrounded by his/her loved ones. Hospice care is family-centered: the patient and family are both included in the care plan and emotional, spiritual and practical support is provided depending on the patients wishes and families needs. Hospice is not so much a place, as it is a philosophy of care with a family-centered approach that considers the patient and family to be the unit of care (Lattanzi-Licht et al. , 1998). Avera Mckennan Hospice Services are the main focus of author. Avera McKennan’s Home Hospice and Palliative Care program office is located in the Dougherty Hospice House. Through this program, they provide hospice services in a variety environments: hospice care in the home setting, hospice care in an assisted living facility, hospice care in a skilled nursing facility and also, in Dougherty Hospice House. The Dougherty Hospice House is a unique sixteen bed hospice facility located on the Prince of Peace campus. This place provides a home like setting with specious rooms for patient and sleeping accommodations for family members. It also has a meditation room, wireless internet, beautiful meditative garden, large dining and family room for families to gather, and library. Dougherty Hospice House and its surrounding property are tobacco free environments. About 80% of all hospice care is provided in private homes, nursing homes, independent and assisted living facilities (Caffrey, C. et al. , 2011). If hospice care provided in patient’s home, a family member will look after their loved one much of the time. Someone form hospice team will usually visit patient once or twice a week assessing a patient and addressing current health issues. Avera McKennan Hospice team consist of 25 people including nurses, social workers, spiritual advisors/chaplains, nursing assistants, trained volunteers, pharmacist and medical director. In case of emergency home hospice patient can call the 24-hour hospice number for advice. A nurse usually can come to patient’s house at any time of the day or night or give an advise over the phone. Based on the patient’s circumstances and stage of care, a hospice interdisciplinary team (IDT) may provide variety of services. Registered nurses assist patient with management of discomfort, pain and side effects of previous treatment ( nausea from chemotherapy). Also nurses help educate both patient and family about what is happening. The nurse is a link connecting patient, family and physician. Home health aids provide extra support for personal care such as bathing, shaving, dressing and eating. Trained hospice volunteers offer assistance with everyday tasks such as shopping, babysitting, and carpooling. They are being available to listen to the patients and families and offer compassionate support. Primary doctor approves plan of care for hospice patient and works with hospice team. A hospice medical director who has expertise in symptom management and end-of-life care is available to the attending physician, patient and family, and hospice team as a great resource and consultant. Chaplains, priests, or other spiritual counselors help patient and family explore the meaning of the death, and perform religious ceremony specific to the patient. Respite care can be provided by inpatient hospice to give family a break from stress of care giving in up to 5-day periods. This service recognizes the need for caregivers to have time away from caretaking roles (Ingleton, Payne, Nolan, & Carey, 2003;Lattanzi-Licht e. l. , 1998). Terms such as caregiver burden (Chwalisz & Kisler, 1995), caretaker role fatigue, spousal burnout, and role engulfment refer to an imbalance between the physical and mental resources needed to give care and those available within the family unit (Reese & Sontag, 2001). Regularly scheduled family conferences most often led by the hospice nurse or social worker allow patient and family members share feelings, talk about what to expect, what is needed, and learn about process of dying. The interdisciplinary team coordinates Avera McKennan Hospice services and supervises al care 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The team is making sure that current information is shared among all the services involved in patients care. Official Community Government (form of government). For-profit and nonprofit hospices have the same regulations. They must comply with State low and Code of Federal Regulations governing hospice care. For-profit hospices grow more than six times faster than nonprofit hospices. Profit sometimes risks compromising the quality of care patients receive. Nonprofit hospices provide hospice services to anyone including persons who do not have health insurance coverage and cannot afford to pay for care. In this case, nonprofit hospice can provide services to person free of charge as part of its charitable mission because nonprofit status of the hospice requires it to offer charitable services and they are dedicated to the mission of caring those in need. Main purpose of for-profit hospices is to make money and pay dividends to their stockholders. They have no obligation to provide services to anyone who does not have Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance coverage. However, both type of hospices are trying to make money, but when they compete for patients, they must provide better care. Avera’s Home hospice services are covered 100% under Medicare and some Medicaid plans, but inpatient care at the Dougherty Hospice House involve some financial expense. Social workers offer patients and their families help with payment options and never turn away a patient for inability to pay for the service. Medicare is the primary payer for hospice services covering 77% of all hospice expenses. The rest is paid for by Medicaid (4%), private insurance (12%) or other sources (7%). Compare to hospital and skilled nursing facilities, hospice is considered a cost-effective service. Hospice charges per day are much lower than hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. Hospice care is covered in full by most insurance. Medicare and Medicaid provide a special Hospice Benefit. This benefit provides 100% coverage for visit by staff, medications related to the hospice illness, durable medical equipment in the home, and supplies for skin care, incontinence management, dressings, etc. Hospice care covered under Medicare includes both inpatient care when needed, and home care services. The focus of hospice is on care, emphasizing help the person to make the most of each day by providing comfort and pain relief. Most private insurance companies include hospice care as a benefit. Patient and family can hire hospice providers and pay for their services out of pocket. If patient has a limited financial resources, non-profit hospices provide services without charge as part of charitable mission. Any patient who enters hospice must be evaluated at the time of admission to the hospice program. Hospice dietitians assist the patient in reaching the best nutritional goals, depending on the current state of the patient’s condition. Common problems for hospice patients are nausea and vomiting. These can be controlled with anti-emetics in some cases, while for some patient s change of diet is sufficient. Educating patient and family about the changes occurring in the patient’s body is imperative. During the course of illness, patient experience changes to some extend in their food intake. It is common for the hospital patient to reduce oral intake of food and fluids as the disease progresses. In general, there is metabolism alterations occur in patient’s body with a terminal illness. Furthermore, there comes a time when the body begins to break cells down instead of building them up. At this point, the body is no longer takes nutrients in. Sometimes patients are forced to take food by family members; in this case the body may refuse through vomiting or diarrhea. A hospice dietitian will explain when this point is reached. However, addressing to stop oral intake before this point is reached is not appropriate. Ongoing assessment of hospice patient nutritional needs will help to determine if there is any appetite change or ability to take the food in and keep it. Based on a study of the non-hospice end-of-life experience of 3,357 seriously ill patients who died reported 40% were in severe pain prior to their death, and 25% experienced moderate to great anxiety of depression before they died (Lynn, 1997). However, hospice is a compassionate way to deliver health care and supportive services. Despite the low South Dakota’s death rate compare the national death rate, the two leading causes of death are heart disease and cancer, accounted for half of South Dakota deaths. Healthy lifestyle changes are critical in reducing deaths due to cancer and heart disease. These modifications can be accomplished by reducing tobacco use, increasing physical activity, and developing healthy eating habits. Minorities in South Dakota include African American, Asian, and Hispanic populations. In general, language barriers, transportation, finances, and lack of insurance were found to be the issues encountered by minorities in seeking adequate health care. Furthermore, end of life care is not reach minority population and remains as a national issue. The majority of hospice patient care is provided in the place patient calls â€Å"home†. In addition to private residences, this includes nursing homes and assisted living facilities. As the health care becomes better, the population lives longer. Nursing home patients benefit from hospice services as much as people living in their homes. According to studies, nursing home residents enrolled in hospice were less likely to be hospitalized in the final 30 days of their life (24% vs. 44%) (Miller, 2001). They were more likely to be assessed for pain, were twice as likely to receive pain management within clinical guidelines (Miller, 2004). Large percentage of elderly people receives home hospice service. Many homes need some modifications for the hospice services to be provided. For example, a bedroom may need to be relocated to a main level of the house for those who have difficulties claiming stairs. There is widening of the hallways may be required to accommodate a wheelchair access. Because of the growing number of people who wish to stay and receive care at home, general contractors are available to assess remodeling needs. A number of programs and sources provide reduced rates, loans, or free services with home modifications.

The Three Heroes

Once upon a time, thousands of years before the dinosaur era began lived a race of mythical beings. Some lived peacefully amongst the humans and some were known to roam the earth causing destruction and reeking havoc in all that crossed their path. This is a tale of three friends, one in particular Garth, who has magic that is spellbinding, strong and even breath taking. In a small village named Bowerstone, located on the shores of a thriving lush green land, there lived three friends in a small cottage, Hannah, Garth and Reaver. The village of Bowerstone was small and very quiet with a tiny population of only 78 people. One night, during a common feast of the people, a group of rebels arrived and demanded all the gold of the people. They did not know that the people were poor, lived off the land and had no use for gold. The rebel commander Leon, screamed at the people to comply and when they didn’t he drew his sleek ancient sword made by the sacred templar elves, and destructively slaughtered every person and started fires throughout the village. Luckily for Hannah, Garth and Reaver, they did not attend the feast; instead they practiced their skills in the shadowy meadow. Hannah trained for agility and accuracy with her bows, Garth mastering his power to control the magic of the templar elves and Reaver had the strength of an ogre. They did not know their fate, but together they would change the future. When they returned to the village, it was burnt to the ground, houses charred, and village folk reduced to ashes, no one survived. Hannah fell to her knees; her eyes welled with tears that soon started to drop from her face. Garth made his way to Hannah with intentions to comfort her but before he reaches her, a bright light appears out of the darkness. A man appears from nowhere his body covered in glowing blue lines. He approaches the three, whispering, â€Å"Come with me†. Cautiously they look at each other, and agreeing to go with him they slowly touch the glowing stranger’s hand and disappear into the cold night. Two years have past and Hannah, Garth and Reaver have been living happily in a castle not far from their old ruined village with the stranger whose name is Hapes. One day Hapes explained how their fate was slowly unfolding, how the rebels destroying the village were part of the prophecy, that three heroes would rise and destroy the rein of terror of the rebels. This surprised them but they were ready to go on a perilous journey. They went back to their chambers and visited the armoury on the way where they acquired robes, weapons and potions. They were now ready to leave the safety of the castle and face the rebels who had killed their fellow villagers. Hannah and Reaver counted on Garth to use his magical powers to locate the rebel’s base. They started their voyage on foot, crossed the bridge of trolls, and then made their way through the dim dragon caves where the rebel secret entry is hidden. Here they would find the leader and kill him satisfying their appetite for revenge. When they arrived at the bridge they met three massive trolls, they were dressed in leather vests, heads protected with silver helmets, their chunky arms clenching wooden clubs, their intention to defend the pathway of the bridge. With no hesitation the three charge toward the trolls, ready to slay all they cross their path. Suddenly Garth’s hands started to glow, a fireball slowly emerging in his hands. With anger growing, he hurls the fire at the trolls, knocking one into flowing water below the bridge. The troll sinking out of sight drowns as bubbles start popping out of the water. Hannah pulls out her bow, loads a thin arrow onto the string and pulls back with complete control. The trolls start to charge, Hannah releases her arrow. It penetrates through his silver helmet, his eyes glaze over as he falls to the ground with a loud thud. Reaver charges toward the remaining troll, with his axe held high, he jumps into the air and chops off the trolls head in one massive blow. They had just killed one of the most feared creatures in the world. They felt invincible and thought to themselves that nothing could stop them now. With adrenalin rushing through their bodies and smiles of success, they continued their journey to the dragons cave. Arriving at the cave; the ground starts to shake and from the darkness, appears an ancient krayt dragon! Hannah pulls out her bow and shoots an arrow into the chest of the dragon, it snaps and falls to the ground. The dragon inhales, chest expanding and with all his force he spits a deep red fireball at Garth. Garth amazingly absorbs it and throws it back toward the dragon, unfortunately causing no damage. The dragon lifts up its giant claw and swings it at Reaver, hitting him and flinging him over 50 metres into the air, landing lifelessly onto the cave floor. When all hope appears lost, Garth’s face lights up; he remembers reading an ancient dragon book on how to defeat them. Focusing on his skills, his hands light up a bright blue, he aims his hands at the dragons mouth, the dragons mouth opens, as he inhales preparing for another fireball, Garth sees his chance, he fires lightening into the mouth of the dragon and it explodes into a shower of jewels! Hannah and Reaver cannot believe their eyes, huge diamonds, rubies, emeralds, every jewel in the world, but before they could even touch one, they remembered Reaver. They rushed to his side and found Leon the rebel holding him in a headlock, he was holding a short dagger to his neck and strangely Hapes was standing beside Leon. Hannah hesitates, not understanding why Hapes would be siding with the rebel, but feels he has betrayed her; she quickly pulls out two daggers from her leg holster and throws one at Leon and one at Hapes. The first dagger impales Hapes’ heart, his body falls to the ground. The second dagger Leon dodges but he lets go of Reaver. Reaver sees this opportunity and draws his sword swinging it at Leon. The dirty rebel blocks the strike with his sword of the elves. Garth fires a bolt of lighting at Leon, it zaps him and he disintegrates. His soul dark and heavy drifted downward into the earth, never to be seen again. They returned to the castle to break the news to the people living there. The people couldn’t thank them enough for what they had done. The rein of terror from the rebels was over and the people felt a heavenly relief. No longer did they need to worry about raids.