Saturday, April 30, 2011

How would a person from the lower class watching Macbeth have reacted to the play in the 1600s?

Macbeth would have been a draw for Elizabethans because of the history, the violence, and the supernatural elements.  Although the average Elizabethan peasant may not have cared about history, he or she probably would have enjoyed the witches.  Supernatural elements were very popular back then.  Some people say that Shakespeare included violence and comic relief at various points during the plays in order to satisfy the lowest class of viewers. 


In those days, theater going was very different.  First off there would be some kind of fun entertainment like a boxing match or a bear-baiting.  There would also likely be a lot of drinking.  The peasants would have been in the penny area, where they were known as groundlings.  They would often make a lot of noise if they were not enjoying the show.  For this reason, Shakespeare often catered to the lowest common denominator with bawdy jokes and comedy. The porter is a good example. 


The conversation between Macduff and the porter serves little actual purpose other than comic relief.  It does indicate Macduff’s patience! 



MACDUFF


What three things does drink especially provoke?


Porter


Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and
urine. Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes;
it provokes the desire, but it takes
away the performance … (Act 2, Scene 3) 



This scene adds some levity to an otherwise pretty dark play.  Of course the witches would have been very popular.  They do not appear in many scenes, but when they do they are fascinating.  Their chants would have likely enthralled the typical peasant.



Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. (Act 4, Scene 1)



This speech or song is both disturbing and funny.  It would have reinforced what most Elizabethans pictured of witches.  Of course, the witches do serve a purpose. They move the plot along.

What is the theory behind laissez-faire capitalism?

Laissez-faire capitalism has a basic premise. This theory states that the government should have either no role or a very limited role in our economy. This theory holds that market forces will determine what will happen in the economy. It also relies heavily on the actions of business owners.


With a laissez-faire philosophy, the government will have few rules and regulations for businesses. The government often lets business leaders try to figure out how to handle issues regarding our economy. Business owners dislike having a lot of rules and regulations as these often make it more expensive to run a business. They like having the freedom to make decisions with little government interference.


Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover followed a laissez-faire philosophy. There were fewer rules and regulations on businesses and their owners. This philosophy, while leading to economic prosperity for most of the 1920s, also created an environment that could lead to dangerous policies. For example, banks took the money that investors put into the bank and invested it in the stock market. When the market collapsed, the banks couldn’t meet the demands of their customers. The banks had to close, and the depositors lost their money.


This philosophy also made it difficult for the government to take action when the Great Depression occurred. President Hoover believed that things would work themselves out on their own. He relied on voluntary actions from businesses to deal with the Great Depression. These didn’t work, and the Great Depression got worse. By the time President Hoover reluctantly changed his stance, the Great Depression become much worse and became even more difficult to solve.

What is MDMA?


History of Use

MDMA was first synthesized in Germany in 1912 for Merck Pharmaceuticals, which patented the substance in 1914. MDMA originally was intended to be an anticoagulant but was ineffective for that purpose. During World War I, however, the drug was taken as an appetite suppressant.




In the 1970s, attempts were made to use MDMA to facilitate psychotherapy. It was then that the drug was found to have hallucinogenic properties, which in 1985 led to its being declared an illegal substance. MDMA was classified as a schedule I controlled substance. Class I drugs are those that have a high potential for abuse and have no recognized medical value.


Because MDMA increases energy, endurance, and arousal, it became widely used in underground dance clubs in England in the 1980s because it allowed people to stay up and dance all night. These all-night events came to be called raves, and the drug itself became known as a club drug, party drug, or recreational drug. Its use in this manner spread to the United States around 1990. MDMA has remained popular in the club scene because it is both a hallucinogen and a psychoactive stimulant.




Effects and Potential Risks

MDMA is derived from methamphetamine and differs from it chemically in only one way that makes it resemble the hallucinogen mescaline. As such, it has the characteristics of both a stimulant and a hallucinogen. Its action is explained mainly by its effects on the serotonin pathways in the body, since it affects serotonin reuptake.


Most of the short-term effects of ecstasy are attributable to the psychological changes from increased serotonin in the brain. These effects include feelings of pleasure, mood elevation, and heightened perception. Negative short-term effects include difficulty thinking clearly, agitation, and physical symptoms such as sweating, dry mouth, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), fatigue, muscle spasms (especially jaw-clenching), and increased temperature.


Some ecstasy users engage in behavior known as “stacking,” or taking multiple doses of ecstasy in one night. This may occur if the person wishes the positive effects of the drug to continue as they begin to wear off. Stacking can result in serious or even fatal physical problems. High blood pressure, extreme elevation of temperature, or cardiac arrhythmias may occur, sometimes resulting in death.


MDMA use often leads to aftereffects too, including depression, restlessness, and difficulty sleeping. Evidence shows that with long-term MDMA use, serotonin levels remain low in the brain, thus affecting brain function over time.


At the same time, as of 2014, scientists had been working with the pure form of MDMA in clinical trials approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the hopes of finding a way to use the drug as part of a psychotherapy treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The studies aimed to determine whether MDMA's potential medical benefits could outweigh negative health effects and often involved war veterans suffering from PTSD. In 2015, the Drug Enforcement Administration had approved the plan from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychadelic Studies to conduct trials regarding the use of MDMA in treating anxiety in the terminally ill.




Bibliography


Baylen, Chelsea A., and Harold Rosenberg. “A Review of the Acute Subjective Effects of MDMA/Ecstasy.” Addiction 101 (2006): 933–47. Print.



Chason, Rachel. "Studies Ask Whether MDMA Can Cure PTSD." USA Today. USA Today, 11 July 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.



De la Torre, R., et al. “Non-Linear Pharmacokinetics of MDMA (‘Ecstasy’) in Humans.” British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 49.2 (2000): 104–9. Print.



Eisner, Bruce. Ecstasy: The MDMA Story. Berkeley: Ronin, 1993. Print.



Mills, Edward M., et al. “Uncoupling the Agony from the Ecstasy.” Nature 426 (2003): 403–4. Print.



Wing, Nick. "DEA Approves Study of Psychadelic Drug MDMA in Treatment of Seriously Ill Patients." Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 28 Oct 2015.

Friday, April 29, 2011

What examples of each type of symbiosis are in the South Eastern Woodland Ecosystem?

Symbiosis is a fascinating example of biological interaction! Mutualism is a particularly interesting type of symbiosis because both parties involved receive some form of benefit from the interaction. One of my favorite examples of this is pollination. It is an extremely critical process to the health of the ecosystem and serves as the basis for all of the produce that we consume.


Woodlands provide good conditions for a wide variety of flowering herbaceous and woody plants. With these flowers come the pollinators, attracted by the colors and scents. Bees are a classic example of a pollinator, but many other animals play a role in this process as well. Hummingbirds, lepidopterans (butterflies and moths), beetles, wasps, and some flies are all examples of pollinators. Many of these animals are able to see ultraviolet wavelengths, making flowers appear very different from the way we see them. Bright, obvious patterns are revealed under UV light that easily leads birds and insects directly to the center of the flower where the pollen and nectar are contained. Once they arrive, the pollinators get a sweet, energy packed treat and the plants get assistance with the reproductive process.


Unfortunately for the pollinator, pollen and nectar may not be all that they're taking away from the flower. Pollen mites may decide to climb on board as well! Now, a few pollen mites don't really cause any harm, but if too many of them gather on the pollinator, it can turn into a parasitic relationship. Small, flying insects like bees suffer the most. These mites can build up on the thorax around the base of the wings and make it difficult or even impossible to fly. Bees that are still able to fly expend more energy doing so because of the added weight. Solitary bees such as mason bees, which nest in tube shaped holes, might end up transferring the mites to their offspring. A single egg is deposited in the tube with a plug of pollen to see the developing larva through the winter. This small space containing egg and pollen is capped off with mud and the process is repeated until the tube is filled and the entrance is capped. If mites happen to be included with that pollen, they will start to multiply and feed, leaving little or no pollen for the larva. In some cases, there will be so many mites that the pollen is used up and the larva gets eaten too.


If we consider the relationship between the mason bee and the tree that it is nesting in, we can see that there is commensalism occurring as well. Mason bees can't make their own holes, so they will take advantage of any natural holes or crevices in wood to lay their eggs. They will also use holes made by other animals. In either case, the tree is not harmed or helped by the bees' presence, but the bees gain a safe place to start the next generation.

How does Shakespeare want us to feel about Katharina being tamed by Petruchio?

It is always difficult to determine authorial intent. We are not able to ask Shakespeare what he wants us to feel; even then, audiences might react very differently to what the author intended. Also, The Taming of the Shrew is a particularly controversial play due to this very question. Whether Petruchio’s taming of Katharina is meant to be funny, disturbing, ironic, or earnest is a widely debated topic, and directors and scholars come down on different sides of the discussion.


Some say that there is actually a great deal of respect between Petruchio and Katharina. They are both wayward individuals whom society rejects. Petruchio is the only one to stand up to Katharina, and the two of them have a fierce battle for control. When they first meet, they make suggestive jokes and seem equally matched in terms of wit:



PETRUCHIO: Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry.


KATHARINA: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.



Petruchio mistreats his servants and Katharina, showing her how unfair it is to constantly disrespect others. All the while, he swears he loves her. When Petruchio insists on calling the sun the moon, Katharina finally gives in:



And be it moon, or sun, or what you please:
An if you please to call it a rush-candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.



Those who believe we are supposed to feel joy or humor at Katharina’s behavior tend to argue that the two of them finally become partners. Both remain mischievous, but now they team up together against others. Petruchio makes a bet that Katharina is a most obedient wife. She comes when he calls and chastises the other wives for being disobedient. Perhaps this is simply part of a scheme the two have devised in order to win money.


Others say Katharina needs to learn her lesson, whether she is a woman or man. The play is not as much about a man dominating a woman as it is about teaching a rude person to behave politely. Therefore Katharina’s long speech at the end about how women should be docile is more about how people in general should appreciate their partners.


Alternately, the taming of Katharina can be portrayed as disturbing. Petruchio, as a man who holds the power, breaks her will and basically brainwashes her into submission. Whatever the intention of Katharina’s “taming,” her final speech is a long one. It stops the play in its tracks. I would argue that Shakespeare wanted us to feel something, whether the speech is meant to be humorous, wise, or sad.

In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, was Caesar ambitious?

In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the title character, Caesar, is indeed ambitious. The play begins after a civil war, the victor of which, Caesar, is the most powerful man in Rome and poised to become the king (or dictator, to be more accurate). The play begins with characters, especially Brutus, worrying about Caesar's ambition, and this worry ultimately drives the conspirators (Brutus among them) to assassinate Caesar. Though Antony throws doubt on Caesar's ambition during his funeral speech in Act 3, Scene 2, he does so to pursue his own political motive. As such, we can view his implied assertion that Caesar was not ambitious as an intentional lie. 


The problem of Caesar's ambition makes more sense when remembered in its historical context (the play is a fictionalized retelling of real events, after all). Prior to Caesar's rise to power, Rome had been a republic for hundreds of years, governing its people through representative government, rather than a monarchy. Thus, Caesar's personal ambition to gain power as king threatens this democratic status quo. As such, Julius Caesar is a play about how personal ambition, when it is paired with political power and motive, has the potential to threaten the sovereignty of self-governance. 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

In the first chapter of Elie Wiesel's Night, how does Moshe the Beadle change?

Moshe the Beadle is a key character in the first chapter of Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night. He is an eccentric man who draws the attention of young Elie. After Elie’s father forbids him from learning about Jewish mysticism, Elie goes to Moshe for lessons. To Elie, Moshe is a brilliant, sympathetic person.


As Moshe the Beadle is a foreigner, he is expelled with other foreign Jews early on in the war. For a time Elie believes that Moshe is at a work camp, and that he might actually be happy there. One day Elie finds Moshe sitting on a bench near Sighet’s synagogue.


Moshe tells a story of slaughter, that the Germans made the Jewish prisoners dig their own graves before killing them. The children were used for target practice. He escaped only by playing dead. “The joy in his eyes was gone,” Wiesel writes. “He no longer sang. He no longer mentioned either God or the Kabbalah. He spoke only of what he had seen.” Moshe spends the remainder of the first chapter telling other Jews his story, urging them to escape while they still can. Unfortunately, no one believes him.

What does it mean to say that civil liberties have become a national rather than a state concern?

As a young country, the United States was very concerned with distancing itself from its tyrannical former government, England. The Founding Fathers were especially concerned with limiting the power of a large federal government. After all, they had just thrown off a large federal government! To them, state governments (which were a radical new idea) represented the culmination of true civil liberties. 


Consider this quote from James Madison in the Federalist Paper No. 45



"The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State."



This was how the United States began, with state governments, rather than the national or federal government, being primarily responsible for "lives" and "liberties." 


Many things changed over the course of United States history. Those changes have shifted the balance of power, especially in the area of civil liberties. Now it is the federal government that primarily enforces civil rights laws. 


What events lead to this change? Here are just two of the many:


Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement: With racist and violent laws being enforced in the deep south, it became clear that state governments were more susceptible to the prejudices of their citizens than the national government. Racist attitudes ran deep the the South, so racist laws were enforced. That doesn't seem to be the most consistent way to enforce civil liberties. 


War and Terrorism: Because war has such a drastic effect on civil liberties (consider the Patriot Act), and because the federal government (not the individual states) has control of the military, it only made sense that the federal government began to concern itself more and more with civil liberties. 

Where and why do Calvin, Charles Wallace, and Meg go with Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which in the book A Wrinkle in Time?

Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which first take the three young people to the planet Uriel, described as the third planet of the star Malak. They go there "to catch our breaths," as Mrs. Whatsit puts it, because it's a safe planet, but also so that the children can be shown the "Dark Thing," evil itself, that partially shadows some planets and has completely taken over other planets. The six companions then travel to a planet in Orion's belt, so that Calvin, Meg and Charles Wallace can meet the Happy Medium and see the earth in her crystal ball. They see that the earth is partially covered in darkness and yet still has goodness and light in it, brought by religious figures such as Jesus and St. Francis, and by artists and visionaries who keep hope alive. They also see that darkness can be eradicated on a planet:



Suddenly there was a great burst of light through the Darkness. The light spread out and where it touched the Darkness the Darkness disappeared. 



This happens often, the children are assured. All of this prepares them for their journey to Camazotz, a planet completely taken over by evil, to save their father.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Who is the Maenad chorus in the play Antigone?

The simple answer here is that the chorus in Antigone is not composed of Maenads. To help you as you study Greek tragedy, this answer will unpack your question and address the role of the chorus, the Maenads and where Maenads appear in Greek tragedy, and the chorus in Antigone as separate issues.


Chorus: One element of both classic Greek tragedy and Old Comedy (but not the New Comedy of Menander) is the presence of a chorus, a group of 12 or 50 male actors (sometimes dressed as women) who sing and dance as a group, and are normally led by a choragos, or chorus leader. 


Maenads: The Maenads (also known as the Bacchae) are female worshipers of the god Dionysus (or Bacchus). They form the chorus of Euripides' play The Bacchae, but do not appear in Antigone


Chorus of Antigone: The chorus in Sophocles' Antigone is comprised of the elders of the city of Thebes. They are not Maenads. 

Monday, April 25, 2011

What are some reasons for having a presidential government instead of having a parliamentary government? In other words, what are the weaknesses...

Unlike a presidential government, whose executive occupies a separate branch from the legislative authority, a parliamentary government elevates its executive (prime minister) from the ranks of the legislative body. This means that the general populace does not elect the prime minister directly. Instead, the prime minister is selected by the leaders of his or her party. Consequently, the prime minister is a far less powerful figure than a president, with little autonomy. That lack of independent authority, and the fact that most parliamentary governments have multiple parties vying for power, means that more often than not, for a new government to form, two distinct political parties must forge what are known as coalition governments, in which the prime minister and his cabinet members are from different parties, with different agendas. As a result, the party that received the majority of the popular vote is not always part of the coalition, because the ability for two parties to work together is just as important as who got the plurality of votes.


As an example, if the Ultra Conservatives in Country X were to win 40 percent of the vote, while the center-left Labour Party wins 35 percent, and the far left Socialists win 30 percent, then most likely, the Ultra Conservatives would not join with either of the other parties because their platforms are too far apart. Instead, the Socialists and the Labour Party would form a coalition, even though the Conservatives won a plurality. Due to the fact that separate political parties often have to join together to form a governing coalition, parliamentary democracies are often messier and less able to take decisive action than are presidential democracies. Parliamentary governments must debate almost all potential actions of the executive, and convince those who disagree with the executive's policies to stay on board, or else risk losing their governing majority.


Even non-coalition governments in parliamentary democracies are vulnerable to so-called votes of "no confidence" by members of the opposition. A vote of no-confidence can force an election that takes the governing party or coalition out of power, or dramatically weakens that party's majority.


Finally, when there are deadlocks or enormous disputes on major issues inside parliamentary democracies, there is not a strong judicial branch to mediate and resolve those disagreements. Federal judges with oversight power do exist in countries such as England, but they have far less power than the Supreme Court does in the United States.


Essentially, a parliamentary democracy is designed to slow down the decision-making process, and guard against authoritarianism by making it very difficult for any one person or party to maintain a lock on power. That is a good thing in many ways, as it prevents many parliamentary democracies from getting bogged down in unnecessary military entanglements. On the other hand, during times of crisis, such as the financial meltdown of 2007 to 2009, for instance, or in the late 1930's during the rise of the Nazis, the fractious nature of parliament democracies can make it very difficult (if not impossible) for those governments to cut off debate and take swift, decisive action. 

How does the theme “don't judge a book by its cover” apply throughout Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman?

"Don't trust a book by its cover" is a common idiom that means people should not prejudge individuals based on appearance alone. Thematically, there are several examples of this idiom throughout the novel Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. At the beginning of the novel, Ana spots a Vietnamese girl hiding behind a refrigerator at the lot on Gibb Street digging into the dirt. Ana immediately thinks the girl is burying drugs, money, or a gun. Instead of calling the police, Ana travels down to the lot and begins to dig in the same spot where she saw the Vietnamese girl working the ground. Ana discovers the girl was planting beans, not hiding drugs. Ana initially viewed the girl as a criminal but later changed her opinion of the girl. Another example of prejudging a people by their appearances takes place in Chapter 9. Amir mentions that all of the gardeners were afraid of Royce, who looked rather dangerous. As they begin spending more time in the garden with Royce, they find out about his situation and develop a friendship with him. The community gardeners learn Royce is a kind, trustworthy individual, and begin to give him food in exchange for his services. The community initially viewed Royce as a threat, but after getting to know him, they change their opinion of him.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

What is home health?


Natural Pollutants

Every home contains natural pollutants that require regular removal to reduce health risks, prevent offensive odors, and eliminate stains and structural damage that devalue the structure. Most of these pollutants become airborne and are inhaled, creating subsequent health problems that range in severity from sneezing to difficulty breathing. Other pollutants may be unintentionally ingested, causing illness.



Airborne pollutants are collectively called dust. The most common component of
dust in a home is dead skin particles shed by the home’s residents. Dust also
contains hair, ash, pollen, fibers, and minerals from outdoor soil. Overexposure
to dust can lead to allergies, respiratory diseases, and
asthma. Dust mites feed on the organic matter in dust. They
most commonly live on mattresses, sheets, and pillows. Their excrement contains
substances that can cause severe allergic reactions. Companies are now making
tightly woven anti-allergy encasings for mattresses and pillows. The use of air
filters in the furnace, air conditioner, and vacuum cleaner reduces airborne
contaminants.


The inhabitants of a house, such as humans, pets, and occasionally rodents, naturally shed hair, dander, saliva, urine, and feces. Such substances may trigger an allergic reaction in people or may carry bacteria, viruses, or parasites that infect humans. Hair and dander may be removed by frequent vacuuming and dusting; excretions should be cleaned up with soap and water. Toilets should be disinfected regularly; closing the lid before flushing prevents the contents from being dispersed into the room as an aerosol.


Also living in homes may be insects such as flies, termites, ants, spiders,
fleas, lice, cockroaches, and bedbugs. Many of these insects feed on garbage, food
spills and crumbs that are not cleaned up, and food supplies that are not
adequately packaged. Insects can transmit diseases to
humans either directly by biting or indirectly by contaminating food with eggs or
droppings. Insects may be eliminated from the home by natural or chemical
pesticides or by swatting or vacuuming, or with flypaper. Adequate containment of
garbage, keeping kitchen floors swept and counters wiped clean, and storing food
in airtight containers will discourage their return.



Pollen from houseplants and cut flower arrangements may
diminish indoor air quality. Pollen may also drift inside through open windows and
doors and be brought in on shoes and clothing, especially from plants next to the
house. Indoor pollen may be reduced by keeping houseplants and floral arrangements
well hydrated. Outdoor plants near windows and doors should be trimmed away from
openings. Although silk floral arrangements do not contain pollen, their complex
surfaces trap dust, so they should be cleaned regularly by spraying with
compressed air.


Mold, which is a fungus, grows in warm, damp areas such as inadequately
ventilated bathrooms, kitchens, and basements. Mold releases spores into the air,
which, when inhaled, may cause symptoms such as a dry cough, nasal congestion, eye
irritation, and wheezing. Mold may be visible, but it is usually detected
initially by its musty odor. It may be destroyed by scrubbing first with a
detergent without ammonia in hot water and then with a 10 percent bleach solution.
Porous materials such as carpeting and insulation that remain damp should be
discarded.


Bacteria and viruses may make a person ill when ingested or inhaled. They may be found on unwashed, uncooked fruits and vegetables and on uncooked meats. Raw foods should be thoroughly washed before they are eaten. Handling raw meat and neglecting to wash one’s hands and the food preparation surface afterward may result in the contamination of other foods and subsequent pathogen ingestion. Surfaces that come in contact with raw meat juices should be thoroughly disinfected.


Bacteria and viruses may also be transmitted on surfaces that are commonly used by many people, surfaces such as doorknobs and telephones. Such surfaces should be wiped with a disposable disinfectant cloth regularly and more frequently during cold and flu season.



Chemical Pollutants

Among other causes, the degassing of synthetic materials in newer homes, and
poor ventilation that keeps the house airtight, may lead to sick building
syndrome. Symptoms of sick building syndrome include eye
irritation, scratchy or sore throat, nasal congestion, skin rash, and difficulty
concentrating. The symptoms typically begin within one hour of entering a polluted
structure and disappear within one hour of leaving the structure.


Another chemical pollutant is tobacco smoke. The ash becomes a component of dust; the odor lingers in soft surfaces such as curtains, upholstery, and clothing; and the secondhand smoke is inhaled by the other residents of the home, causing increased respiratory problems.



Carbon
monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that may be given off
by faulty furnaces or space heaters. Exposure may cause flulike symptoms, severe
headache, dizziness, trouble breathing, and even death. Carbon monoxide detectors
in the home are recommended and may be found in combination with smoke
detectors.



Radon is another invisible, odorless gas that is also
radioactive. It results from the decay of uranium in the soil and seeps into a
home through the foundation, where it can build up to dangerous levels. Radon
increases the risk of lung cancer for those who breathe it. The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency recommends that all homes be tested for radon below
the third floor. Commercial radon reduction systems are available too.



Asbestos, used as pipe insulation, may be a pollutant in
homes that were built between 1920 and 1978. Breathing high levels of exposed
asbestos may result in an increased risk of cancer and lung disease. Homes built
before 1978 may also contain lead paint. Flakes of this paint have a sweet taste,
making the paint tempting to children. If they ingest the paint flakes, they can
become ill with lead poisoning.



U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency. “Dealing with Mold and Mildew in Your Flood Damaged Home.” Available at http://www.fema.gov/pdf/rebuild/recover/fema_mold_brochure_english.pdf. A clear, authoritative explanation of how to improve home health by finding and removing mold and mildew.


U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “A Citizen’s Guide to Radon.” Available at http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html. Information on what homeowners can do to protect themselves from radon.


_______, Office of Air and Radiation. “The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality.” Available at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html#iaqhome1. A complete discussion of home air quality, common pollutants, and improvement measures.

Find the area of the triangle with the vertices at the points (-6,6), (5,-1), (5,6).

Another way to calculate the area of this triangle is by noticing that two of the given points have the same x-coordinates, and two of the given points have the same y-coordinates. This means one side of the triangle is parallel to the x-axis, and another side is parallel two the y-axis. These sides are perpendicular to each other, so this is a right triangle. The area of the right triangle is half of the product of the perpendicular sides (a special case of the more general formula for the area of a triangle: area = 1/2 of base times height.)


The length of the side with the ends at the vertices (-6,6) and (5,6) (the side parallel to the x-axis) is


`l_1 = 5 - (-6) = 11`


The length of the side with the ends at the vertices (5, -1) and (5,6) (the side parallel to the y-axis) is


`l_2 = 6 - (-1) = 7`


So the area of the triangle is


`A = 1/2*l_1*l_2 = 1/2*77 = 38.5` .


The area of the triangle is 38.5.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

What is laparoscopy?


Indications and Procedures


Laparoscopy
is a surgical technique for examining the abdominal organs and for treating surgically many diseases of these organs. The instrument used is called a laparoscope. It is a flexible tube that contains fiber optics for visualization purposes and a channel through which physicians can pass special surgical instruments into the abdominal cavity.



Upon insertion of a laparoscope into the abdomen through a small surgical incision (usually near the navel), physicians can observe the liver, kidneys, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, and exterior aspects of the intestines in both sexes. Hence the technique is useful for detecting cirrhosis of the liver, the presence of stones and tumors, and many other diseases of the abdominal organs. The female reproductive organs can also be examined in this manner.


Before laparoscopy can be carried out, the patient must fast for at least twelve hours. The patient is given a local or general anesthetic, depending on the purpose of the procedure. In exploratory abdominal examinations, the instrument is inserted into the abdomen through a small incision in the abdominal wall after local anesthesia has numbed it. Often, especially when extensive surgery is anticipated, the procedure begins after general anesthesia produces unconsciousness. Upon the completion of exploration or surgery, the laparoscope is withdrawn and the incision is closed.


Laparoscopic abdominal examination is often used to detect
endometriosis, the presence of endometrial cells outside the uterus. This procedure begins with the administration of local anesthesia when only exploration or biopsy is planned. General anesthesia is used when the removal of implants (endometrial tissue) is anticipated. The entry incision is made near the navel, and the laparoscope is inserted. The fiber-optics system is used to search the abdominal organs for implants. Visibility of the abdominal organs is usually enhanced by pumping in a harmless gas, such as carbon dioxide, to distend the abdomen. After the confirmation of endometriosis, surgical implant removal is carried out immediately, unless the decision is made to institute drug therapy instead. Full recovery from this surgery requires only a day of postoperative bed rest and a week of curtailing activities.


Laparoscopy can also be employed for female sterilization. The patient is given a general anesthetic. After laparoscopic visualization of the Fallopian tubes in the gas-distended abdomen is achieved, surgical instruments for tube cauterization or cutting are introduced and the sterilization is carried out. The entire procedure often requires only thirty minutes, which is one reason for its popularity. In addition, patients can go home in a few hours and have fully recovered after a day or two of bed rest and seven to ten days of curtailing activities.




Uses and Complications

Common laparoscopic surgeries are
cholecystectomy (the removal of the gallbladder), the removal of gallstones and kidney stones, tumor resection, female sterilization by cutting or blocking the Fallopian tubes, the treatment of endometriosis through the removal of implants from abdominal organs, and the removal of
biopsy samples from abdominal organs. Traditional uses of laparoscopy in female reproductive surgery are to identify and correct pelvic pain resulting from endometriosis, ectopic pregnancy, and pelvic tumors.


Laparoscopy has several advantages. There is rarely a need for patients on chronic drug therapy to discontinue medication before laparoscopy. In addition, the use of laparoscopy dramatically lowers surgical incision size, surgical trauma, length of hospital stay, and recovery time. Laparoscopy should be avoided, however, in cases of advanced abdominal wall cancer, severe respiratory or cardiovascular
disease, or tuberculosis. Extreme obesity does not disqualify a patient from undergoing laparoscopy but makes the procedure much more difficult to perform.


As laparoscopic surgery has increased in scope, more procedures yield surgical tissues that are larger in size than the laparoscope channel (for example, the removal of gallbladders, gallstones, and ovaries). In many cases these organs and structures are cut into small pieces for removal. If potentially dangerous items are involved—such as malignancies that can spread on dissection—larger, more conventional incisions are often combined with laparoscopy.




Perspective and Prospects

Since the 1970s, the uses of laparoscopy have constantly expanded. Once confined to the exploratory examination of the abdomen, the methodology has been applied to a large number of different types of surgery in addition to those already mentioned. Such versatility is attributable to the development of better laparoscopes, advanced instrumentation for diverse surgeries, and improved fiber-optic and video technologies.


As a consequence of these advances, many surgeons predict that most future abdominal surgery will be laparoscopic. The driving force for such innovation includes the public demand for quicker recovery times. In the United States, this desire is intensified by the requirements of insurance companies, employers, and the federal government for shorter hospital stays. Both changes are made possible by decreased severity of surgical trauma in laparoscopy when compared to traditional surgery, a result of the smaller incisions. The dramatic trend toward laparoscopy can be seen with cholecystectomies: Of those done in 1992, 70 percent were laparoscopic, compared to less than 1 percent in 1989; according to a 2010 report, about 75 percent of cholecystectomies are done with laparoscopic surgery.




Bibliography


Graber, John N., et al., eds. Laparoscopic Abdominal Surgery. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.



Henderson, Lorraine, and Ros Wood. Explaining Endometriosis. 2d ed. St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen and Unwin, 2000.



Kapadia, Cyrus R., James M. Crawford, and Caroline Taylor. An Atlas of Gastroenterology: A Guide to Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis. Boca Raton, Fla.: Pantheon, 2003.



Ost, Michael C. Robotic and Laparoscopic Reconstructive Surgery in Children and Adults. New York: Humana Press, 2011.



Reddick, Eddie Joe, ed. An Atlas of Laparoscopic Surgery. New York: Raven Press, 1993.



Terzić, Hana. Laparoscopy: New Developments, Procedures, and Risks. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science, 2012.



Zollinger, Robert M., Jr., and Robert M. Zollinger, Sr. Zollinger’s Atlas of Surgical Operations. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.



Zucker, Karl A., ed. Surgical Laparoscopy. 2d ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001.

Who is telling the story in "The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky"?

Stephen Crane’s short story "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" is told from the point of view of a third person omniscient narrator.


The narrator is not a character in the story, but has the ability to discuss the emotions and thoughts of the main characters in the story. The narrator sets the stage for the story, but also provides insight into the welfare of the people the reader encounters.


After describing how the town marshal, Jack Potter, and his new bride appeared as they rode the train from their wedding in San Antonio to the west Texas town of Yellow Sky, the narrator tells the reader, “They were evidently very happy.” This gives the reader an image of the characters and an indication of their feelings. Throughout the story, the narrator delves into the characters in this way by describing their thoughts and actions. The omniscient narrator brings all of the characters to life instead of focusing on one.

Friday, April 22, 2011

What is cachexia?





Related conditions:
Anorexia




Definition:


Cachexia is a complex syndrome in which changes in the way the body uses food, particularly fat and carbohydrates, lead to loss of muscle and fat. Anorexia (loss of appetite) is sometimes, but not always, associated with cachexia.



Risk factors: Certain cancers such as lung cancer or any cancer of the digestive tract particularly of the esophagus, stomach, and pancreas are more likely to be accompanied by cachexia. It is also common in advanced cancer, although infrequently it occurs in early cancers, sometimes even before diagnosis. Cachexia can also occur with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).



Etiology and the disease process: In cancer-related cachexia, it is thought that the tumor releases chemicals that change food metabolism. Patients with cachexia tend to have poor appetites. Even with nutritional supplementation, the wasting cannot be reversed while the cancer remains.



Incidence: According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2014, when diagnosed, about 80 percent of patients with cancers in the upper gastrointestinal tract and 60 percent of patients with cancers of the lung have already lost considerable weight. The NCI also reported in 2014 that cachexia is the immediate cause of death in 20 to 40 percent of cancer patients. Patients with any solid tumor except breast cancer are generally more prone to cachexia, and it is also more common and more pronounced as the disease progresses in children and in the elderly.



Symptoms: Cachexia is one of the most overwhelming symptoms of cancer, demolishing quality of life with numbing fatigue, loss of appetite or changes to taste, and severe weight loss of 10 percent or more of body weight.



Screening and diagnosis: When a person experiences unexplained weight or appetite loss or fatigue, medical practitioners without more specific clues might perform such general screens as a complete blood count and a chest x-ray. When the source of the problem is suspected, tests are more specific.


With a known cancer, cachexia diagnosis is based on clinical history, substantial weight loss, and physical examination. The concentration of plasma albumin in blood will usually be low. Extensive diagnostics are not normally required.



Treatment and therapy: The best course of action for cachexia is treatment of the underlying disease. After successful treatment, patients regain lost muscle and fat mass.



Prognosis, prevention, and outcomes: Prognosis is very poor with cachexia in advanced disease. When cachexia occurs in the early stages of cancer, the cancer that causes it is often responsive to treatment, and successful treatment removes the source of changes to metabolism.



Amer. Soc. of Clinical Oncology. "Weight Loss." Cancer.Net. ASCO, Feb. 2012. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.


Dugdale, David C. "Weight Loss—Unintentional." MedlinePlus. US Natl. Lib. of Medicine, NIH, 6 Jan. 2013. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.


Holmes, Susan. "Understanding Cachexia in Patients with Cancer." Nursing Standard 25.21 (2011): 47–56. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.


McCreery, Elizabeth, and John Costello. "Providing Nutritional Support for Patients with Cancer Cachexia." Intl. Jour. of Palliative Nursing 19.1 (2013): 32–37. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.


Natl. Cancer Inst. "Nutrition in Cancer Care (PDQ)." Cancer.gov. NCI/NIH, 3 Sept. 2014. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.


Suzuki, H., et al. "Cancer Cachexia—Pathophysiology and Management." Jour. of Gastroenterology 48.5 (2013): 574–594. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 9 Sept. 2014.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

What are some factors that led to shifts in Boccaccio’s Italy?

Giovanni Boccaccio lived during the beginning of the Italian Renaissance, which was a period of significant change in Italy, as well as in the rest of Europe. Disease and changes to the European weather patterns led to changes in population location and mass. New social classes emerged as the merchant class rose in power and the economics of Europe began changing from agriculture to trade. And the rediscovery of classical learning and art led to new ideas and the growth of urban universities. As a result of these forces, 14th century Italy shifted from an agricultural society to an increasingly urbane and learned society.


The beginning of the 14th Century marked the end of the Medieval Warm Period (a period of higher than normal temperature and rainfall) and the beginning of the Little Ice Age (a period of colder than normal temperatures). The changing temperature and weather patterns caused failures of crops and movement of people to areas where crops grew more readily. It also led more people to move to urban centers as they were not able to sustain themselves through farming.


Another factor that caused population location and mass to shift was the bubonic plague. As people fled the plague, or tried to avoid it altogether, they moved to new locales. Despite the higher death tolls in cities, many people fled to urban centers as those were the only places where they could find a means to survive. The plague also dramatically reduced the population of many areas, which led to changes in population dynamics, including allowing people to change profession and even climb social classes.


These environmental factors coincided with a growing change from a feudal-agriculture economic system to a merchant-trade economic system. As trade became more prevalent, merchants began to rise both in political power and social standing. This changed the political and social dynamics of the ruling class. It also led to the population of trading centers swelling as more people became involved in trade rather than agriculture.


Along with increased trade of goods came an increased trade in ideas. European scholars began rediscovering the works of classical authors and philosophers while European artists rediscovered classical art. This trend was strongest first in Italy, where many of the sources of classical ideas and art could be found and studied. Italian scholars started relocating to universities, which were usually found in the urban areas.


Thus, Giovanni Boccaccio’s Italy became a very different place during the course of his lifetime. Weather pattern instability and disease caused changes in the size and location of population centers. The rise of merchants as a political and economic force resulted in new social classes and changing lifestyles, as well as the growth of urban centers for trading. And the rediscovery of the works of classical scholars and artists brought new learning and ideas to Italy, as well as resulting in an increasing number  of universities in the urban areas.

It is said that the hen came first not the egg. But for this to happen the egg should be fertilised by a cock. But there is no mention of a cock....

This is often posed as a deep quandary: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In our everyday experience, every chicken egg comes from a chicken, and every chicken comes from an egg. So where did the first one come from? Here you speculate that perhaps the hen (female chicken) came first; but then you rightly point out that in order for the egg to be fertilized we'd need a cock (male chicken) to do so. But then where did he come from? An egg? And round and round we go.

The true answer is as surprising as it is fundamental: Chickens and eggs are not well-defined categories. There is not a clear dividing line in the universe between chickens and non-chickens; this paradox arises because we think as though such a dividing line existed.

What actually happened to bring chickens into existence was that they evolved; over millions of years, animals that were somewhat chicken-like became a bit more chicken-like with each successive generation, driven by the demands of surviving in a harsh environment. Being just slightly more chicken-like improved their chances of survival, so each successive generation was a bit more chicken-like than the last. A group of birds that were 50.001% chicken might become 50.002% chicken in the following generation, and then 50.003% in the next. Over enough generations, they eventually got all the way to 100% chicken.

What were they before that? A different sort of bird. And before that? They were dinosaurs. Chickens actually share a common ancestor quite close to Tyrannosaurus rex!

We could keep going further back, of course, to the reptilian ancestors of dinosaurs, and then their amphibian ancestors, and then their fishlike ancestors, and back and back and back for billions of years until at last we reach the beginning of all life on Earth, an unassuming single-celled organism similar to what we'd now think of as blue-green algae.

Before that? We're actually not sure. Somehow, inert matter got reorganized into single-celled organisms of this kind. Scientists are still working on exactly how that happened. But once it did, those single-celled lifeforms began evolving, until one day their descendants would diverge into millions of different species, including ourselves---and of course, chickens.

In "After Twenty Years," when a tall man in a long overcoat walked up to Bob what made him think that it was Jimmy and not anyone else?

In O. Henry's story "After Twenty Years," Bob has traveled to meet his old "chum" Jimmy after two decades. He waits in the dark doorway of what was once their favorite restaurant, so when a man comes towards him shortly after the pre-arranged time on a lonely night, Bob assumes that this man is Jimmy. Who else would have reason to come out at night and walk directly toward a man who is not clearly visible in the doorway of a store that is closed?


Since they have parted when Bob was eighteen and Jimmy twenty, Bob may also assume that Jimmy has grown taller since that time because men can grow up until the age of twenty-five. (http://www.newhealthguide.org/When-Do-Men-Stop-Growing.html). Also, the man calls out to him as he approaches, "Is that you Bob?" This action certainly suggests that he knows that Bob will be standing in this doorway.


So, it is not until the two men walk down the street that Bob does ask "Jimmy" about his being taller. They continue arm-in-arm until they pass a drug store that is brilliantly lighted; the men turn to look into the face of the other. Then, Bob is completely perplexed,



"You're not Jimmy Wells," he snapped. "Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man's nose from a Roman to a pug."



The taller man with the pug nose informs 'Silky' Bob that he has been under arrest for the last ten minutes; then, he hands Bob the note from his old friend, Patrolman Jimmy Wells.
 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

What is lateral gene transfer?


Gene Transfer in Prokaryotes

The fact that genes may move between bacteria has been known since the experiments of Frederick Griffith with pneumonia-causing bacteria in the 1920’s. Griffith discovered the process of bacterial transformation, by which the organism acquires genetic material from its environment and expresses the traits contained on the DNA in its own cells. Bacteria may also acquire foreign genetic material by the process of transduction. In transduction a bacteriophage picks up a piece of host DNA from one cell and delivers it to another cell, where it integrates into the genome. This material may then be expressed in the same manner as any of the other of the host’s genes. A third mechanism,
conjugation, allows two bacteria that are connected by means of a cytoplasmic bridge to exchange genetic information.










With the development of molecular biology, evidence has accumulated that supports the lateral movement of genes between prokaryotic species. In the case of Escherichia coli, one of the most heavily researched bacteria on the planet, there is evidence that as much as 20 percent of the organism’s approximately 4,403 genes may have been transferred laterally into the species from other bacteria. This may explain the ability of E. coli, and indeed many other prokaryotic species, to adapt to new environments. It may also explain why, in a given bacterial genus, some members are pathogenic while others are not. Rather than evolving pathogenic traits, bacteria may have acquired genetic sequences from other organisms and then exploited their new abilities.


It is also now possible to screen the genomes of bacteria for similarities in genetic sequences and use this information to reassess previously established phylogenetic relationships. Once again, the majority of this work has been done in prokaryotic organisms, with the primary focus being on the relationship between the domains Archaea
and Bacteria. Several researchers have detected evidence of lateral gene transfer between thermophilic bacteria
and Archaea prokaryotes. Although the degree of gene transfer between these domains is under contention, there is widespread agreement that the transfer of genes occurred early in their evolutionary history. The fact that there
was lateral gene transfer has complicated accurate determinations of divergence time and order.




Gene Transfer in Eukaryotes

Although not as common as in prokaryotes, there is evidence of gene transfer in eukaryotic organisms as well. A mechanism by which gene transfer may be possible is the transposon. Barbara McClintock first proposed the existence of transposons, or mobile genetic elements, in 1948. One of the first examples of a transposon moving laterally between species was discovered in Drosophila in the 1950’s. A form of transposon called a P element was found to have moved from D. willistoni to D. melanogaster. What is interesting about these studies is that the movement of the P element was enabled by a parasitic mite common to the two species. This suggests that
parasites may play an important role in lateral gene transfer, especially in higher organisms. Furthermore, since the transposon may move parts of the host genome during transition, it may play a crucial role in gene transfer.


The completion of the Human Genome Project, and the technological advances in genomic processing that it developed, have allowed researchers to compare the human genome with the genomes of other organisms to look for evidence of lateral transfer. It is estimated that between 113 and 223 human genes may not be the result of vertical gene transfer but instead might have been introduced laterally from bacteria.




Implications

While the concept of lateral gene transfer may initially seem to be a concern only for evolutionary geneticists in their construction of phylogenetic trees, in reality the effects of lateral gene transfer pose concerns with regard to both medicine and agriculture, specifically in the case of transgenic plants.


Currently the biggest concern regarding lateral gene transfer is the unintentional movement of genes from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into other plant species. Such transfer may occur by parasites, as appears to have occurred with Drosophila
in animals, or by dispersal of pollen grains out of the treated field. This second possibility holds particular significance for corn growers, whose crop is wind-pollinated. Genetically modified corn, containing the microbial insecticide Bt, may cross-pollinate with unintentional species, reducing the effectiveness of pest management strategies. In another case, the movement of herbicide-resistant genes
from a GMO to a weed species may result in the formation of a superweed.


On the beneficial side, lateral gene transfer may also play a part in medicine as part of gene therapy. A number of researchers are examining the possibility of using viruses, transposons, and other systems to move genes, or parts of genes, into target cells in the human body, where they may be therapeutic in treating diseases and disorders.




Key terms



gene transfer

:

the movement of fragments of genetic information, whole genes, or groups of genes between organisms




genetically modified organism (GMO)

:

an organism produced by using biotechnology to introduce a new gene or genes, or new regulatory sequences for genes, into it for the purpose of giving the organism a new trait, usually to adapt the organism to a new environment, provide resistance to pest species, or enable the production of new products from the organism




transposons

:

mobile genetic elements that may be responsible for the movement of genetic material between unrelated organisms





Bibliography


Bushman, Frederick. Lateral Gene Transfer: Mechanisms and Consequences. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2001. Examines the ability of genes to move between organisms and its implications for the development of antibiotic resistance, cancer, and evolutionary pathways, including those of humans.



Gogarten, Maria B., Johann Peter Gogarten, and Lorraine C. Olendzenski, eds. Horizontal Gene Transfer: Genomes in Flux. New York: Springer, 2009. Collection of articles by researchers who provide an overview of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) concepts and specific case histories. Begins with an overview of terminology, concepts, and the implications of HGT on evolutionary thought and philosophy, followed by a discussion of molecular biology techniques for identifying, quantifying, and differentiating instances, and concluding with a section of case studies.



Hensel, Michael, and Herbert Schmidt, eds. Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Evolution of Pathogenesis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. An overview of current knowledge relating to the evolution of microbial pathogenicity that focuses on the rearrangements of the genome resulting from horizontal gene transfer. Aimed at graduate students and researchers.



Rissler, Jane, and Margaret Mellon. The Ecological Risks of Engineered Crops. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996. Introduces the reader to the concept of transgenic crops and then discusses the potential environmental risks of gene flow between genetically modified organisms and nontarget species of plants. Suggests mechanisms of regulation to inhibit environmental risk.



Syvanen, Michael, and Clarence Kado. Horizontal Gene Transfer. 2d ed. Burlington, Mass.: Academic Press, 2002. Examines the process of gene transfer from an advanced perspective. Discusses the relationship between gene transfer and phylogenetic analysis, evolutionary theory, and taxonomy.

How does one structure a plot?

At its most basic level, plot is the sequencing of events in a narrative. If characters are the “who” and motivation is the “why”, plot is the “what” of a story. Most stories will follow, more or less, the same overall plot structure. Plot is also a way for scenes and actions to be grouped in a logical way.


Plot is usually structured into the following elements: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.


In the exposition, we first meet our characters and setting. We learn who our characters are, and what they want.


During the rising action, characters are introduced to conflicts that prevent them from getting what they want. Rising action is usually kicked off by an event that forces our hero out of his/her comfort zone and into the story.


In the climax, the tension that is built during the rising action reaches its highest point. This should be the biggest test or conflict that our hero faces.


During the falling action, our hero experiences the fallout from the climax and has finally achieved the goals that he or she set out to achieve.


In the resolution, we return to a “normal” state similar to the exposition, but due to the events of the story the elements of this state or the characters involved have changed.


Using these basic elements, you can make your plot as simple or as complex as you’re able to convincingly write the story. Plot is not the same as character, and should not overshadow the other elements of the story. A strong character will drive the elements of the plot; in other words, the step-by-step sequencing of events that make up the plot are mostly the result of character choices, not merely moments that give the characters something to do. While a part of any good story is the character reacting to events beyond his or her control (for example, the death of Luke's aunt and uncle in Star Wars: A New Hope changes his world completely, but he still ultimately makes the choice to leave home with Obi-Wan Kenobi), plot should ultimately be driven by characters.

Monday, April 18, 2011

How does Emily Bronte use duality to structure Wuthering Heights? How can this help us understand the novel?

The structure of Wuthering Heights is quite complicated. It's natural to think about "duality" as a way of reducing this complexity, but it is a crude method, which will leave unexamined much of what makes this book so great. Is is true, however, that the book is full of pairings. Some of the obvious ones:


  • Earnshaws vs Lintons

  • Heathcliff vs Cathy

  • Heights vs Grange

These pairings suggest other, more thematic, pairings


  • Wildness vs Civilization

  • Underclass vs Aristocracy

  • Mixed race vs White

These can be made even more elemental:


  • Good vs Evil

  • Light vs Dark

  • Love vs Hate

To me, what is so interesting about the book is how, despite the fundamental disunity of things which these pairings suggest, none of these things could exist without the other. Catherine and Heathcliff are locked in an eternal stuggle, but what gives meaning to each of them is the other. When Catherine says to Nellie, "I am Heathcliff," that statement is at once patently false (she isn't, and isn't even going to marry him) and deeply true: She wouldn't be who she is without Heathcliff. Their differences unite them.


In this way, when we consider any of these pairings, we begin to understand that far from representing opposites, what they in fact suggest is a deep connection or unity, which amounts to a sophisticated and (to me) clear-eyed understanding of reality. We can think about Heathcliff as the devil, as a monomaniac bent on revenge, as an elemental force of nature, or as the proletariat rising up and assuming the position of the ruling class, and all these interpretations are true. But if we think about Heathcliff as one half of the Cathy/Heathcliff dyad, we come to realize that whatever he is, he is essential, not just for the story, but for existence itself.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

What is artificial selection?


Natural vs. Artificial Selection

Selection is a process through which organisms with particular genetic characteristics leave more offspring than do organisms with alternative genetic forms. This may occur because the genetic characteristics confer upon the organism a better ability to survive and ultimately produce more offspring than individuals with other characteristics (natural selection), or it may be caused by selective breeding of individuals with characteristics valuable to humans (artificial selection). Natural and artificial selection may act in concert, as when a genetic characteristic confers a disadvantage directly to the organism. Dwarfism in cattle, for example, not only directly reduces the survival of the affected individuals but also reduces the value of the animal to the breeder. Conversely, natural selection may act in opposition to artificial selection. For example, a genetic characteristic that results in the seed being held tightly in the head of wheat grass is an advantage to the farmer, as it makes harvesting easier, but it would be a disadvantage to wild wheat because it would limit seed dispersal.














Early Applications

Artificial selection was probably conducted first by early farmers who identified forms of crop plants
that had characteristics that favored cultivation. Seeds from favored plants were preferentially kept for replanting. Characteristics that were to some degree heritable would have had the tendency to be passed on to the progeny through the selected seeds. Some favored characteristics may have been controlled by a single gene and were therefore quickly established, whereas others may have been controlled by a large number of genes with individually small effects, making them more difficult to establish. Nevertheless, seeds selected from the best plants would tend to produce offspring that were better than average, resulting in gradual improvement in the population. It would not have been necessary to have knowledge of the mechanisms of genetics to realize the favorable effects of selection.


Likewise, individuals who domesticated the first animals for their own use would have made use of selection to capture desirable characteristics within their herds and flocks. The first of those characteristics was probably docile behavior, a trait known to be heritable in contemporary livestock populations.




From Pedigrees to Genome Maps

Technology to improve organisms through selective breeding preceded an understanding of its genetic basis. Recording of pedigrees and performance records began with the formal development of livestock breeds in the 1700s. Some breeders, notably Robert Bakewell, began recording pedigrees and using progeny testing to determine which sires had superior genetic merit. Understanding of the principles of genetics through the work of Gregor Mendel enhanced but did not revolutionize applications to agricultural plant and animal improvement.


Development of reliable methods for testing the efficiency of artificial selection dominated advances in the fields of plant and animal genetics during the first two-thirds of the twentieth century. Genetic merit of progeny was expected to be equal to the average genetic merit of the parents. More effective breeding programs are dependent on identifying potential parents with superior genetic merit. Computers and large-scale databases have greatly improved selection programs for crops and livestock. However, selection to improve horticultural species and companion animals continued to rely largely on the subjective judgment of the breeder to identify superior stock.


Plant and animal genome-mapping programs facilitated the next leap forward in genetic improvement of agricultural organisms. Selection among organisms based directly on their gene sequences promised to allow researchers to bypass the time-consuming data-recording programs upon which genetic progress of the 1990s relied. Much effort has gone into identifying quantitative trait loci (QTLs), which are regions of chromosomes or genes that may play a role in the diversity of a trait. QTL analysis is often used along with marker-assisted selection (MAS), where markers associated with the gene of interest are used as surrogates for the actual gene. An example of a biochemical marker is a protein that is encoded by a specific gene. An example of a gene marker is a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Regarding SNPs, there are some cases in which a trait may be controlled by a gene that has a different allele (also known as an alternative DNA sequence) depending on a change in one single nucleotide, and this change may or may not result in a different characteristic. A benefit to using QTL and MAS is that plants and animals can undergo genetic screening to determine whether a desired trait has been artificially selected into the new progeny, rather than waiting until the plant or animal has matured to see if the trait has been passed on.




Diversity vs. Uniformity

In addition to identifying different alleles, SNP analysis can be used to learn more about the genetic history of plants and animals and to determine which genes have remained consistent over time and which have varied due to artificial selection. For example, one evolutionary study, conducted by Masanori Yamasaki, Stephen I. Wright, and Michael D. McMullen and published in 2007 in the Annals of Botany, found that approximately 1,200 genes in the modern maize genome were affected by artificial selection during the domestication from wild grass teosinte.


The ultimate limit to what can be achieved by selection is the exhaustion of genetic variants. One example of the extremes that can be accomplished by selection is evident in dog breeding: some of the heaviest breeds, such as mastiffs, can weigh more than fifty times as much as the lightest breeds, such as chihuahuas. Experimental selection for body weight in insects and for oil content in corn has resulted in variations of similar magnitudes.


However, most modern breeding programs for agricultural crops and livestock seek to decrease variability while increasing productivity. Uniformity of the products enhances the efficiency with which they can be handled mechanically for commercial purposes. As indigenous crop and livestock varieties are replaced by high-producing varieties, the genetic variation that provides the source of potential future improvements is lost. Widespread use of uniform varieties may also increase the susceptibility to catastrophic losses or even extinction from an outbreak of disease or environmental condition. The lack of biodiversity in the wake of such species loss could threaten entire ecosystems and human beings themselves.




Impact

As the genomes of different species are sequenced and analyzed, databases of gene mapping are becoming available. These gene maps help to link the QTLs to specific genes by sequencing and functional analysis and help to connect different alleles to different SNPs. It is predicted that this enhanced genetic knowledge will improve artificial selection by facilitating the selective breeding of animals and plants with greater valued commercial traits. However, many traits are controlled by several genes, making QTL analysis quite complex.




Key Terms



genetic merit

:

a measure of the ability of a parent to contribute favorable characteristics to its progeny




genetic variation

:

a measure of the availability of genetic differences within a population upon which artificial selection has potential to act




heritability

:

a proportional measure of the extent to which differences among organisms within a population for a particular character result from genetic rather than environmental causes (a measure of nature versus nurture)





Bibliography


Deesing, Mark, and Temple Grandin. Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Academic, 2014. Print.



Dekkers, J. C. “Commercial Application of Marker- and Gene-Assisted Selection in Livestock: Strategies and Lessons.” Journal of Animal Science 82 E-Suppl. (2004): E313–28. Print.



Hartl, Daniel L. "The Genetic Basis of Complex Inheritance." Essential Genetics: A Genomics Perspective. 6th ed. Burlington: Jones, 2014. 497–518. Print.



Lurquin, Paul F. The Green Phoenix: A History of Genetically Modified Plants. New York: Columbia UP, 2001. Print.



Rissler, Jane, and Margaret Mellon. The Ecological Risks of Engineered Crops. Cambridge: MIT P, 1996. Print.



Tudge, Colin. The Engineer in the Garden: Genes and Genetics, from the Idea of Heredity to the Creation of Life. New York: Hill, 1995. Print.



Williams, J. L. “The Use of Marker-Assisted Selection in Animal Breeding and Biotechnology.” Revue Scientifique et Technique 24.1 (2005): 379–91. Print.



Wright, S. I., et al. “The Effects of Artificial Selection on the Maize Genome.” Science 308.5726 (2005): 1310–14. Print.



Zohary, Daniel, Maria Hopf, and Ehud Weiss. Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Cultivated Plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley. 4th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.

What is guilt?


Introduction

The concept of guilt has played an important role in the development of human behavior and culture since the early days of civilization. More recently, there has been a focus on the psychological understanding of guilt. One of the first people to write extensively about the psychological meaning of guilt was the Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud
. His writings from the 1890s to the 1930s provide the basic foundation of the contemporary understanding of guilt. Guilt is the feeling of tension when one feels that one has violated a moral code by thought, action, or nonaction. It is considered to be a type of anxiety. The unpleasant feeling of guilt usually prompts the guilty person to take some type of action to relieve the tension.







Freud believed that guilt starts in early childhood as a result of the child’s fear of being punished or of losing the love of the parent through misbehavior. Freud stressed that the most significant event in establishing guilt is the Oedipus complex. At the age of four or five, Freud hypothesized, the male child wants to kill his father and have sex with his mother. In the counterpart to this, sometimes called the Electra complex, the female child wants to kill her mother and have sex with her father. The child becomes anxious with these thoughts and attempts to put them out of his or her consciousness. As a result of the Oedipus complex, the child develops a conscience, which represents inner control and morality. There is the ability to recognize right from wrong and to act on the right and refrain from doing wrong. Freud would later use the concept of the superego
to explain conscience. The superego represents the parental thoughts and wishes that have been internalized in the child. Now the internal superego can monitor the morality of the child, and guilt can be generated when the superego is displeased.


An important distinction is to be made between normal guilt and neurotic guilt. Normal guilt is experienced when one has acted in such a way as to violate one’s moral code. A person then usually takes some action to relieve the guilt. Neurotic guilt relates to thoughts or wishes that are unacceptable and cause anxiety. These thoughts are pushed out of consciousness, so that the person feels guilt-ridden but is not aware of the source of the guilt. There is no relief from the guilt. In neurotic guilt, the thought is equated with the deed.




Origin

The origin of guilt can be traced back to childhood. In human development there is a long period in which the baby is dependent on the parent. The young baby cannot survive without someone providing for its care. As the baby begins to individuate and separate from the parent, ambivalent feelings are generated. Ambivalent feelings are opposing feelings, typically love and hate, felt for the same person. The child begins to worry that these hateful feelings will cause the parents to punish him or her or remove their love. With this fear of parental retaliation, the child becomes guilty when thinking or acting in a way that might displease the parents.


The Oedipus complex dramatically changes this situation. The dynamics of this complex are based on the play by the Greek playwright Sophocles, in which Oedipus murders his father and takes his mother as his wife, unaware that they are his parents. When Oedipus finds out the truth, he blinds himself and goes into exile. Freud believed the Oedipal situation to be a common theme in literature. He also discussed the play Hamlet (1603) by the English playwright William Shakespeare. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet’s uncle has killed Hamlet’s father and married Hamlet’s mother. There is the question as to why Hamlet hesitates in killing his uncle, and Freud attributed this indecision to Hamlet’s Oedipus complex. Freud argued that Hamlet had thoughts of killing his father and having sex with his mother, and Hamlet’s uncle only put into action what Hamlet had thought. Hamlet’s guilty desires prevent him from taking any action. Freud believed that the Oedipus complex can exist throughout one’s life. People can feel guilty about separating from their parents or achieving more than their parents, as this can unconsciously represent killing them off.


Freud’s examination of neurotic guilt led him to the concept of unconscious guilt. Neurotics experience guilt but are not sure what they are guilty about. Freud first noticed this attitude in obsessive patients. These patients tended to be perfectionistic and overly conscientious, and yet they were wracked by guilt. Freud believed them to be feeling guilty about thoughts and wishes they had pushed out of consciousness, that is, Oedipal wishes. Freud observed the paradox that the more virtuous a person, the more the person experiences self-reproach and guilt as temptations increase.


Freud’s final writings on guilt highlighted its importance for civilization. He wrote that guilt enabled people to get along with others and form groups, institutions, and nations. Without the ability to curb impulses, particularly aggression, society would suffer. Freud did feel that humans pay a price for this advance in civilization, in that there is a loss of personal happiness due to the heightening of the sense of guilt.




History

Writing in the 1930s, child psychoanalyst Melanie Klein
argued that the Oedipus complex started much earlier in the child’s development than Freud had suggested. She believed that it started toward the end of the first year of life and centered primarily on the mother. The baby hates the mother for withdrawing the breast during feeding. The baby then feels guilty and worries that the mother will no longer breast-feed. Klein felt that the baby would want to relieve its guilt by making amends to the mother, causing it to show concern and care for the mother. Klein felt that this was the most crucial step in human development, the capacity to show concern for someone else. Guilt is thus seen as a critical ingredient in the ability to love.


The psychoanalyst Franz Alexander
further advanced understanding of guilt. He wrote that feeling guilty can interfere with healthy assertiveness. The guilty person may need excessive reassurance from other people. When the guilty person is assertive, he or she fears retaliation from others. Alexander also wrote about the concept of guilt projection. This term refers to situations in which people who tend to be overly critical induce guilt in other people.


The psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson
also wrote on the theme of guilt interfering with assertiveness. He formulated a theory of eight stages of human development, focusing primarily on early development. The fourth stage of development, around the age of four to five, is called guilt/initiative. The child must successfully repress Oedipal wishes to avoid feeling excessive guilt. The child can then proceed with normal initiative.


Another perspective on guilt is the concept of existential guilt, discussed by American psychiatrist James Knight. Existential guilt is the failure to live up to one’s expectations and potentialities. It can lead to questioning one’s existence and to states of despair until personal meaning can be established.



Erich Fromm
expanded the concept of guilt in order to better understand group psychology. He wrote that there are essentially two types of conscience: authoritarian and humanistic. Authoritarian conscience is the voice of internalized external authority. It is based on fear and danger. It is afraid of displeasing authority and actively seeks to please authority. Authoritarian conscience can lead to immoral acts committed as the individual conscience is given over to this higher authority. Humanistic conscience is one’s own voice expressing one’s own true self. It is the essence of one’s moral experience in life. It includes integrity and self-awareness.




Current Status

Since 1960, there has been a significant change in the views of psychoanalytic theory on guilt. The psychoanalyst Hans Loewald wrote extensively about guilt. He considered that guilt does not necessarily lead to punishment; sometimes punishment is sought to evade guilt. Bearing the burden of guilt makes it possible to master guilt by achieving a reconciliation of conflicting feelings. Guilt is thus seen not as a troublesome feeling but as one of the driving forces in the organization of the self. Guilt plays a critical part in developing self-responsibility and integrity.


The American psychoanalyst Stephen Mitchell, writing in 2000, expanded on Loewald’s ideas. Mitchell concerned himself with the concept of genuine guilt. He believes it is important to tolerate, accept, and use this feeling. People need to take responsibility for the suffering they have caused others and themselves. People particularly hurt those they love, but by taking personal responsibility for their behavior, they can repair and deepen their love.




Guilt and Shame

Throughout the 1990s, there were a number of writings about the concept of shame and its relation to guilt. Shame is experienced as a feeling of inadequacy in the self. There can be physical, psychological, or emotional shame.


The American psychoanalyst Helen Lewis wrote extensively about this topic. She believed that shame includes dishonor, ridicule, humiliation, and embarrassment, while guilt includes duty, obligation, responsibility, and culpability. A person can feel both guilt and shame.




Bibliography


Akhtar, Salman, ed. Guilt: Origins, Manifestations, and Management. Lanham: Aronson, 2013. Print.



Carveth, Donald L. The Still Small Voice: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Guilt and Conscience. London: Karnac, 2013. Print.



Freeman, Lucy, and Herbert S. Strean. Understanding and Letting Go of Guilt. Northvale: Aronson, 1995. Print.



Joseph, Fernando. “The Borrowed Sense of Guilt.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis 81.3 (2000): 499–512. Print.



Lewis, Michael. The Rise of Consciousness and the Development of Emotional Life. New York: Guilford, 2014. Print.



Piers, Gerhart, and Milton B. Singer. Shame and Guilt: A Psychoanalytic and a Cultural Study. New York: Norton, 1971. Print.



Reilly, Patrick. The Literature of Guilt: From Gulliver to Golding. Iowa City: U of Iowa P, 1988. Print.



Rodogno, Raffaele. "Gender and Shame: A Philosophical Perspective." Gender and Emotion. Ed. Ioana Latu, Marianne Schmid Mast, and Susanne Kaiser. Bern: Lang, 2013. 155–70. Print.



Tangney, June Price, and Ronda L. Dearing. Shame and Guilt. New York: Guilford, 2004. Print.



Tournier, Paul. Guilt and Grace: A Psychological Study. San Francisco: Harper, 1983. Print.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

How does Atticus feel children's questions should be answered in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Atticus says that children have to be answered directly when they ask adults a question.


When Scout comes to Christmas, Uncle Jack tries to teach her a lesson and gets one from her. He doesn’t like the fact that she swears and gets into fights, and tells her that if she does again she will get into trouble. Then he spanks her for fighting with Frances. She tells him that he doesn’t understand children much, and Frances did provoke her. He had insulted Atticus.


Jack tells Atticus that he will never marry because he might have children, and that he is sorry that he spanked Scout.



“Her use of bathroom invective leaves nothing to the imagination. But she doesn’t know the meaning of half she says—she asked me what a whore-lady was…” (Ch. 9) 



Jack admits that he did not tell Scout the truth when she asked him a question because it was embarrassing to explain what a whore-lady was. Atticus does not approve of not answering a child directly. It is another example of how Atticus’s approach to child-rearing is different from that of Jack, who has no children.



“Jack! When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ‘em.” (Ch. 9) 



Atticus doesn’t exactly follow his own advice, because his explanation of rape for Scout uses words like “carnal knowledge” and “consent” that she probably doesn’t know. However, he does answer her question. Atticus believes that children have the right to know what is going on and adults should not hide the truth from them.


Scout and Jem certainly have to grow up fast during the Tom Robinson trial. Frances's insults of Atticus are just one example. Scout has to learn about issues that might be considered inappropriate for a child her age, such as rape.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Where did Germany's strategy in World War II fail?

Two examples of the failure of Germany strategy can be seen in the Battle of Britain and the invasion of Russia. In the first, the plan was to use the German Luftwaffe (air force) to gain air superiority over Britain in order to cover an invasion. But the Germans were unable to do so, taking very heavy losses due to the skill of the Royal Air Force and the effective use of radar, among other reasons. Eventually, the Luftwaffe turned to a terror campaign, bombing cities in Great Britain, but this failed as well, as the resolve of the British people did not waver under the almost nightly attacks. So the planned invasion of Great Britain, essential to Hitler's plans in 1941, never materialized, marking a major strategic failure. 


In Russia, Hitler's strategy failed because he underestimated the ability of the Russians to hinder the progress of the German army. When the Germans invaded Russia in the spring of 1941, the assumption was that their attacks would be as swift and devastating as the conquests of Poland, France, and other nations had been. But the Russian Army was able to slow the German advance to the point where it became bogged down in the Russian winter outside the cities of Moscow and Leningrad. The army was completely unprepared for winter fighting, famously neglecting to carry winter gear, and the invasion was a failure. This was a major, and ultimately fatal, strategic blunder because it meant that the Germans were obliged to fight a two-front war once the invasion of France commenced in 1944. 

What is palsy?


Causes and Symptoms

In general, the term “palsy” describes any type of dysfunction of the motor nerves that impairs or reduces the conscious control of muscles. The paralysis or loss of motor control is usually accompanied or followed by weakness and wasting of the muscles in the affected area.




The most common type of palsy is Bell’s palsy, a paralysis of the seventh cranial nerve, or facial nerve, often accompanied by pain over part or all of the affected area. The number of muscles involved varies. The paralysis usually occurs on one side of the face at a time, with the result that the undamaged muscles of the opposite side pull the facial skin to that side. Typically, the eye on the affected side remains open all the time because the muscles that close it have been affected; attempts by the patient to close the eye merely result in the eyeball rotating upward. The rest of the face on the affected side generally droops but remains flat; the brow fails to wrinkle, and the cheeks never thicken. Smiles and other facial expressions are asymmetrically contorted.


Thorough neurological testing is needed to assess how much damage has been done and which branches of the facial nerve have been affected. If the damage affects either hearing or taste, this finding indicates that the damage is closer to the root of the facial nerve, and the patient’s chances for recovery are correspondingly much lower. If only a few muscles are involved, it indicates that the damage is farther from the root of the nerve, which usually forecasts a better chance of recovery. In most cases, Bell’s palsy is thought to arise from a reduced blood supply to the affected nerves. Viral infection by
herpes simplex or
herpes zoster (shingles) is also a frequent cause; the viral infections are believed to cause demyelination (deterioration of the myelin sheath that insulates nerves) of the affected parts of the facial nerve. Other causes include injuries to the area just below or in front of the external ear resulting from blows to the head, surgery in this region, or other types of trauma.


Another common type of palsy is
cerebral palsy, an impairment of movement and posture caused in most cases by injury, malformation, or other damage to the immature brain. Cerebral palsy is actually a group of paralytic disorders that begin during intrauterine development, at birth, or in early infancy. The extent of the paralysis may vary, often involving large groups of muscles while sparing others. Those muscles that are not totally paralyzed are often uncoordinated in their movements or poorly controlled; this is especially true of large muscle movements such as those of the limbs. In many cases, the patient exhibits a “scissors gait” in which the lower limbs are crossed and the one behind must be swung sideways before it is placed in front of the other limb. In addition to the lack of muscular control of the limbs, other symptoms variously include spasms, athetoid (slow, rhythmic, and wormlike) movements, or muscular rigidity. Speech is in many cases difficult or unclear if the muscles used in speaking are affected.


Mental deterioration may occur in some cases but not in others: Some patients with cerebral palsy are intellectually disabled, while others have managed to display brilliant artistic or literary talents with the use of whatever muscles still function in their bodies. Some cerebral palsy patients also suffer from seizure disorders such as
epilepsy. Almost all cases of cerebral palsy are accompanied by some other type of neurological impairment, the nature of which varies greatly. In general, cerebral palsy is a nonprogressive type of disease; that is, it does not continually worsen. Afflicted individuals generally experience a normal life span, though with impaired motor functions.


The most common types of cerebral palsy are those that occur in infancy or earlier. Of this group, injuries received at birth (during forceps delivery, for example) form one of the largest and most well defined groups. Cerebral hemorrhage, a cause of many cerebral palsies, may occur either during intrauterine life or at birth. Cerebral palsy may also result from embryonic malformations, from injuries received during intrauterine life, or from injuries or other damage during the first two years of life. In addition to birth trauma, many other factors may contribute to a risk of cerebral palsy: premature delivery, breech delivery, toxemia of pregnancy, impairment of the baby’s oxygen supply, maternal infection (especially rubella, also called German measles), premature detachment of the placenta during the birth process, and incompatibility between the Rh blood types of mother and child. Brain injuries caused by low oxygen levels (anoxia or hypoxia) can arise before, during, or after birth and can result from damage to the blood vessels, birth trauma, or infectious diseases such as meningitis or encephalitis.


Cerebral palsies are classified into two general types: pyramidal (or spastic) and extrapyramidal (or nonspastic). The pyramidal or spastic types show muscular spasms and other symptoms that persist with age and hardly vary with changes in emotion, tension, movement, or sleep. The pyramidal tracts of the brain stem are damaged in these forms of cerebral palsy. The extrapyramidal or nonspastic types are more variable and are subdivided into several subtypes according to the types of movement exhibited: none (rigid type), weak (dystonic type), rhythmic and wormlike (athetoid type), or uncoordinated shaking (ataxic type). The extrapyramidal tracts of the brain stem are damaged in all these forms of the disease. Most forms of cerebral palsy can also be described as hemiplegia (involving both extremities on one side of the body only), diplegia (involving both legs more than the arms), bilateral hemiplegia (involving the arms more than the legs), or
quadriplegia (involving all four extremities more or less equally). Attempts to group the various forms of cerebral palsy by their causes have generally resulted in a lack of agreement among experts. One scheme divides the causes into subependymal hemorrhage among premature infants, damage from oxygen deprivation to the growing brain (the vast majority of cases), and developmental abnormalities of the nervous system.


The most common form of cerebral palsy is infantile spastic hemiplegia, which accounts for about one-third of all cerebral palsies. Most cases of
spastic hemiplegia (about 65 percent) are thought to result from birth trauma, either from forceps delivery or from the difficult passage of a very large head through the mother’s pelvic girdle. Another 30 percent arise after birth, during the first year of life, either from head injury or from infections such as meningitis and encephalitis. Only 5 percent of spastic hemiplegias arise before birth from embryonic malformations or from toxemia of pregnancy. The rate at which cerebral palsy occurs is higher for babies born prematurely than for those born at term. It is also higher for large babies that may suffer injury during a difficult passage through the birth canal. In the United States, there is a somewhat higher incidence rate among Caucasians than among African Americans.


Parkinson’s disease (also called paralysis agitans or shaking palsy) is a progressive or degenerative type of palsy. The disease usually produces a tremor that includes a distinctive “pill-rolling” movement of the thumb and forefinger; this tremor usually stops if a voluntary movement of some other kind is begun. Muscle weakness, stiffness, and muscular rigidity are common but with intermittent symptoms that come and go; movements generally become slow and difficult. The muscles involved in chewing and swallowing are often affected in Parkinson’s disease, so patients are often advised to eat high-calorie, semisoft foods that require no chewing and are more easily swallowed than liquids. Involvement of the muscles of facial expression results in a masklike expression that does not alter with changes in emotion. Patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease often have difficulty in initiating voluntary movements; this difficulty is often described by patients as a feeling of “being frozen in place.”


The walking gait of Parkinson’s disease patients is also very characteristic: The body above the waist leans forward, the head and shoulders droop, the feet shuffle slowly (and are barely lifted from the ground), and the arms are generally held slightly flexed and motionless rather than swinging. Many patients break into a trot or a run when they attempt to walk; as a result, patients often fall, most often forward. To prevent such falls, they frequently shuffle forward in very small steps. The shuffling gait is believed to result from a partial paralysis of the extrapyramidal motor system of neurons, which is generally responsible for controlling posture and coordinating motor activities.


Parkinson’s disease is known to result from a disorder in the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter chemical normally secreted by certain parts of the brain. The affected parts of the brain are the basal ganglia deep within the cerebral hemispheres, and especially the substantia nigra, a deeper structure that sends dopamine-secreting nerve fibers to the basal ganglia. In patients with Parkinson’s disease, cells of the substantia nigra are often degenerate and pale from the loss of normal pigments, but this may be a result, rather than a cause, of the primary defect: an impairment of the brain’s ability to convert dopa (dihydroxyphenylalanine) into the neurotransmitter dopamine.


The chemical n-methyyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyridine has been found to produce in experimental animals a disease very similar to Parkinson’s disease. For this reason, many researchers suspect that the disease has an environmental cause that leads to the production of a related toxic chemical, one that presumably interferes with the production of dopamine.


Parkinson’s disease is uncommon before the age of forty, but it becomes so common in people over sixty that it is the leading neurological disorder in this age group. In the United States, the incidence rate is about 130 per 100,000 in the general population and is roughly the same in all races and ethnic groups. About 10 to 15 percent of patients show mental deterioration (dementia) as the disease progresses. Patients often experience depression, social withdrawal, and generalized apathy.


Other, less common palsies include brachial birth palsy, Erb’s palsy, Klumpke’s palsy, true or progressive bulbar palsy, pseudobulbar palsy, Féréol-Graux palsy, posticus palsy, lead palsy, scrivener’s palsy, pressure palsy, compression palsy, and creeping or wasting palsy.


Brachial birth palsy is a paralysis of the infant’s arm resulting from an injury received at birth, involving the whole arm, the upper arm only (Erb’s palsy), or the lower arm only (Klumpke’s palsy). Erb’s palsy, a brachial birth palsy of the upper arm, is caused by an injury at birth to the brachial plexus or the posterior roots of the fifth and sixth cervical nerves; the muscles involved generally include the deltoideus, biceps brachii, and brachialis, impairing the raising of the upper arm, flexion of the elbow, or supination movements involving the forearm. In Klumpke’s palsy, which results from an injury at birth, the muscles of the forearm and the small muscles of the hand undergo atrophy; this form is often accompanied by paralysis of the cervical sympathetic nerves.


True or progressive bulbar palsy, a palsy and progressive
atrophy of the muscles of the tongue, lips, palate, pharynx, and larynx, often occurs late in life and is caused by degeneration of the motor neurons leading to these muscles. Twitching or atrophy of the tongue and other affected muscles causes drooling, difficulties in swallowing, and ultimately a respiratory paralysis that results in death. Many experts consider true bulbar palsy to be a manifestation of the same disease that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is popularly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.


Pseudobulbar palsy (“laughing sickness”) is a paralysis of the lips and tongue that mimics true or progressive bulbar palsy, but it arises in the brain itself and is accompanied by difficulties in swallowing and by spasmodic laughter at inappropriate times. Féréol-Graux palsy, a one-sided (unilateral) paralysis of the motor nucleus of the lateral rectus muscle of one eye and the medial rectus muscle of the other eye, results from damage to the medial longitudinal fasciculus and impairs the ability to direct either eye toward the affected side. Posticus palsy is a paralysis of the posterior cricoarytenoideus muscle (cricoarytenoideus posticus), resulting in the vocal cords being held close to the midline.


Lead palsy is a paralysis of the extensor muscles of the wrist resulting from lead poisoning, while scrivener’s palsy (“writer’s cramp”) is a repetitive motion disorder resulting in damage to the nerve controlling the small muscles of the hand. Pressure palsy is a paralysis caused by repeated or persistent compression of a nerve or nerve trunk. Compression palsy results from nerve compression, especially of the arm, caused by pressure from the use of a crutch (crutch palsy) or from compression of a nerve during sleep. Creeping palsy and wasting palsy are general terms for progressive muscle atrophy, such as that associated with ALS.



Treatment and Therapy


Bell’s palsy is treated by various methods, including the application of warmth, the avoidance of cold drafts, or the administration of vasodilating drugs such as cortisone or antiviral drugs such as acyclovir. In unusual cases, surgery is performed to enlarge the passages through which the facial nerve passes, thus relieving compression on the nerve. In past generations, physicians often recommended treating eyes that could not be closed by taping them shut, especially in sleep. This treatment is no longer recommended. Instead, physicians usually advise patients who cannot close an affected eye to wear dark glasses during the day.


Many patients with Bell’s palsy recover spontaneously on their own. The chances that a particular individual will spontaneously recover depend on the location of the damage and the extent of muscle involvement; the cases with the most favorable outcomes are those in which the damage is more peripheral and fewer muscles are involved. Frequent, repeated testing of each small group of facial muscles is needed to assess the extent of damage and the extent of any recovery.


Diagnosis of cerebral palsy is best made by a trained neurologist through observation of the patient’s spontaneous motor movements and reflex actions. Infants who exhibit any reflex that persists beyond its appropriate age range, or any voluntary motor pattern that fails to develop at the appropriate age, should be examined more carefully for signs of nerve damage. For example, most babies can lift their heads by one month of age and their chests by two months. By three months of age, most babies can raise themselves up on their elbows, and by four months on their wrists. Newborn babies exhibit reflexes such as the Moro reflex, a flexion and “embracing” reflex in reaction to a sudden noise or other sudden stimulus or “startle”; however, the persistence of this reflex beyond six months of age (or its asymmetrical performance) may be indicative of some form of cerebral palsy. Another reflex often used in diagnosis is the “fencer” reflex, or asymmetric tonic neck reflex: Turning the baby’s head toward one side usually causes extension movements in both the arm and leg on the side toward which the chin faces, while flexion movements usually take place on the opposite side of the body. This reflex is present at birth and disappears in a few months; its persistence after six months of age should be considered suspicious.


There is no cure for cerebral palsy. Treatment generally consists of physical rehabilitation and training the patient to use whatever muscles are still capable of being consciously controlled. This is a difficult form of therapy that must be tailored to the needs of each patient because individuals experience unique combinations of motor abilities and disabilities. Few patients with cerebral palsy are capable of walking on their own. Depending on the extent of impairment of muscle movements, some patients may require crutches or braces, while others use motorized wheelchairs. In cases in which there is speech impairment, speech therapy may also be needed to teach the patient to speak more clearly. Most types of cerebral palsy are already present during infancy; therapy for these types is always rather difficult because the patient is learning the necessary motor skills (such as walking or speaking) for the first time. Palsies that arise during adolescence or adulthood respond differently to therapy because the patient is relearning skills that had already been mastered.


Treatment for Parkinson’s disease includes the administration of a number of drugs that are chemically related to dopamine, the missing neurotransmitter. The drug most often used is levodopa, or L-dopa, a derivative of a naturally occurring amino acid in the brain. The drug carbidopa is also given to help deliver most of the levodopa into the brain. Dopamine agonists (enhancers) such as bromocriptine and pergolide are frequently given. The antiviral drug amantadine has also been shown to have effects that counter the disease.



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How does the choice of details set the tone of the sermon?

Edwards is remembered for his choice of details, particularly in this classic sermon. His goal was not to tell people about his beliefs; he ...