Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Wake and Bake Essay Example for Free

Wake and Bake Essay In America the use and sell of recreational marijuana is illegal and taking seriously by authorities. Over half of the people in the USA smoke or have smoked marijuana. Marijuana is a plan that can be grown almost anywhere and can be smoke to experience relaxation. Marijuana should be legal to the people of America because this is a free country and if the vote is more than fifty percent that means the majority of people want it to be legal. The people of America should not hide the use of marijuana any longer. Using marijuana should not be frowned upon because it has never killed a single human being. If this drug has not killed anyone then why is it still illegal? Tobacco and alcohol have killed over 555,000 people a year according to the CDC. Tobacco and alcohol are somehow legal to a of age adult so why cant marijuana? People need to realize that marijuana is a soft drug as to wear its harmful effects fall under caffeine. You are at more risk if you have too much coffee compared to too much marijuana. Its mind blowing to think about this because caffeine is a drug that can kill a person and it is legal and marijuana is a drug that is illegal and has never killed anyone. A lot of kids don’t know where they are getting their weed. Drug dealers don’t really care about whom they are giving drugs to either; they are just in it for the money. If marijuana became legal there would be no more drug dealers but professional licensed weed distributers. People who smoke would know exactly where their product is coming from and would be dealing with people who care about their product. People will not be going to the hospitals because their weed dealer put another drug in their weed to make it weight more. The weed distributors would only sell weed to adults who are of age, just as they do with the sale of alcohol and cigarettes. Too many people now a days get put in jail for the use of marijuana. Innocent people in jail for smoking pot? What were these people doing wrong? Where they disturbing the peace? Hurting anyone? No they were smoking pot to relax and they got thrown in jail with real criminals who have killed people, robbed people, people who are out of their mind. Marijuana needs to become legal and people who have been put in jail because of it don’t deserver to be put through that. In the end people will do what they want in this world but they will have to keep away from cops and other authority when they smoke. Washington and Colorado are the only two states in America that allow the use of recreational marijuana. This is a big step for our country and I hope other states follow in their foot steps.

Monday, August 5, 2019

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Process

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Process Attempts at cloning a mammal can be traced back to 1979, where the scientist Steen Willadsen successfully cloned a sheep embryo using nuclear transfer [1]. Since then numerous attempts have been made to replicate these results. Notably the birth of Dolly the sheep (1996) was a major development in this field; as she was the first mammal to be cloned from a fully differentiated somatic cell, using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) [2]. This essay will describe the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer in light of mammalian cloning and the risks it poses to mammalian reproduction. The fertilization of mammalian gametes through natural reproduction is limited by the ability to preserve desirable traits after the extinction of an individual. Moreover, the reproductive success of natural fertilization is limited by the gestation length, estrus cycle, the efficiency of insemination during intercourse and Hayflick limit [3]. Furthermore, these limitations are chiefly important in livestock agriculture; where desired traits and alleles are more favourable for propagation. SCNT enables us to extract the nucleus of a fully differentiated somatic cell (diploid cells) and introduce it into an enucleated mature oocyte which is allowed to develop into an embryo; that is genetically identical to the host cell [4]. Other variations to this method are practised even though they all rely on the same principles. By this process, the limitations stated above become insignificant as specific mammals with the desired traits can be cloned to preserve the genome. However, this technique is still undeveloped and the success in producing cloned offspring is low. The success rate of SCNT is dependent on several factors; namely, selecting the right donor cell that will be most efficient to the nuclear transfer. In this process, fully differentiated somatic cells are selected based on their cell-cycle state and age. The G0 phase is most desired when selecting the donor cell as it has been shown to be the most effectual donor [5]. Conversely, deprivation of nutrient to the donor cells growing in vitro can also induce the cells to adopt the G0 resting phase. The age of donor cells also contribute to the success of cloning, the more aged the donor cell the less efficient SCNT becomes. Additionally, donor cells that are derived from more genetically diverse species are favoured, as it has been shown that cells obtained from inbred animals are less likely to be successful in cloning [6]. However, these factors are only relative to the limited species that have been examined and more factors may come to light as other species such as primates are subjected to SCNT. Once the donor somatic cells are identified, they are normally extracted from the skin of the donor mammal, using needle aspiration and avoiding unnecessary strain on the donor animal. Oocytogenesis is the process in which females produce oocytes. SCNT uses mature oocytes in metaphase-ll which are collected from the ovaries of the required animal [7]. The mature oocytes are enucleated using micromanipulation which penetrates the zona pellucida and removes the nucleus. There are two alternative routes which can be adopted when manipulating the process of the insemination of the nucleus donor cells into the mature oocytes. First, the Honolulu technique (developed by Wakayama) which uses brain cells, cumulus cells and sertoli cells as donors that are naturally in the G0/G1 phase. The nucleus of the somatic cell is aspirated and directly micro-injected into the oocyte using a piezo-impact pipette; which penetrates the zona pellucid and delivers the nucleus into the enucleated oocyte [8]. The oocytes are subsequently activated by exposing them to a medium containing Sr+2 that also contains cytochalasin-B which acts to prevent the formation polar bodies. Figure. 1[9] shows a diagrammatic representation of the Honolulu technique, highlighting that the nucleus is directly inserted into the mature oocyte. Secondly, the Roslin technique (used to create Dolly the sheep) cultures donor cells in vitro and deprives them of nutrients; forcing the cells to adopt the G0 phase. Subsequently, the enucleated oocyte is aligned next to the donor cell; such that the oocyte and donor cell are parallel to one another. Pulsating electrical currents are applied to fuse the oocyte and donor cell together, by inducing pore formation of the cell membrane [10]. Figure.1In the Honolulu and Roslin techniques the use of chemicals and electrical pulses induce the activation of the oocyte, which can subsequently develop into an embryo which is implanted into a surrogate host for progeny development. The activation of the oocyte induces major reprogramming of the differentiated donor nuclei back to its totipotent state [11]. This process is extremely intricate and the full biochemical mechanisms are not fully understood. However, extensive research has been completed in understanding an overview of oocyte reprogramming and epigenetic modification. The introduction of a somatic nucleus into the oocyte causes rapid deacetylation of histones on lysine residues, catalysed by histone deacetlase. Moreover, the donor chromatins also experience demethylation [12], which is also a method that is used to dedifferentiate the nuclei back to totipotent state. Aberrant or incomplete DNA reprogramming is thought to be a major contributor to abnormal development in embryos and clones which can explain why only 1% of SCNT are successful in producing fully developed clones. Figure.2The efficiency of the Honolulu technique and the success rate of cloning have been shown to be superior to the Roslin technique [12]. However, the overall success rate of cloning, irrespective of the method used is still considerably low, with only 1% success rate. Figure. 2 [13] shows the percentage of embryos surviving prior to implantation with surrogate and post implantation. Moreover, there are several risks associated with clones derived from mammalian SCNT. These risks also have ethical implications that follow. Phenotypic abnormalities that are associated with clones derived from SCNT ranges from aberrant telomere length (which can lead to premature ageing) to large offspring syndrome and irregular placenta development during embryonic growth. The telomere length and ageing of clones are thought to be directly correlated. Telomeres are situated on the ends of chromosomes and consist of numerous repetitive DNA bases that function to stabilise and prevent deterioration of the chromosome [14]. Experimental observations show that some species of mammals are prone to shorter telomere lengths in comparison with a control. It is also thought that the telomeres are not fully restored to the original length during SCNT. Such implications can suggest that the sizes of the somatic cell telomeres are inherited by the clones; therefore producing clones that have already aged [15]. Dolly lived until she was 6 years of age (half the age of an average sheep) and was shown to have shorter telomeres in comparison to a control (19 kb vs. 23 kb) implying that she died prematurely. However, shorter telomeres in clones are not universally applicable as in mice, bovine and cattle all showed similar lengths to their respective control, if not lon ger [16]. The occurrence of shorter telomere lengths in some species suggests that the donor cell species and genetic background govern it. Nevertheless, the exact cause of short telomere length is still not yet fully comprehendible, yet some studies indicate that it might be caused by incomplete reprogramming [17]. Large offspring syndrome (LOS) is characterised by larger than normal clones that have oversized organs and aberrant limb formation which all can lead to an increase in prevalence of organ defects and cardiovascular difficulties. These characteristics have been observed in cattle and can contribute to higher abortions rate and deformities in skeletal structure. However, offspringà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s derived from cloned mammals diagnosed with LOS, were shown not to have LOS [18]. This suggests that again irregular epigenetic reprogramming during SCNT is a contributor to LOS as the progeny of the clones (which are born naturally) fail to have LOS. Embryos that are derived from SCNT have been shown to have abnormal/enlarged placenta development (placentomegaly) during embryonic growth. The abnormalities occur in both bovine and mice [19] and can cause the developing fetus to die during pregnancy. The aberrant placenta in mice is shown to have an increased amount of insulin- like growth factor which can cause LOS in clones. Moreover, failure for the placenta to develop accordingly during the pregnancy of clones can cause immune-mediated abortion [20]. The risks to mammalian reproduction stated above can produce clones that are phenotypically defective which raises ethical concerns. The abnormalities in clones can cause harmful side effects and can lead to cloned mammals suffering. We have seen that some mammals show premature ageing which can ultimately lead to premature death. The welfare of these clones seems to be disregarded in the experiments that are conducted. Moreover, there are concerns that a small proportion of cloned animals can enter our food chain, which is thought to be unsafe. However, recent studies show that consumption of cloned animals is safe to homosapeins [21]. The prospect of human SCNT also has deep ethical implications. Current legislation in all countries prevents SCNT in humans. Nonetheless, the proposed benefits that SCNT offers (therapeutic cloning) may one day outweigh the ethical concerns. If this occurs, it would shake the foundations of tradition, as humans can be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢producedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ asexually with their genomic sequence known [22]. This can lead to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"gene discrimination by other non cloned humans, and by cooperate companies who can prevent human clones (that may be prone to specific dieses) from obtaining insurance, for example. In conclusion, Somatic cell nuclear transfer has been successfully used to clone mammals from fully differentiated somatic cell. However, this technique is largely inefficient and a major Impediment is that only 1% of somatic cells successfully developed into clone. The lack of understanding on oocyte reprogramming can be contributed to the inefficiency of this technique. Moreover, this has lead to some clones showing abnormal phenotypic features which has major ethical implications. Nevertheless, somatic cell nuclear transfer shows great promise in the fields of medical therapeutics, agriculture and conservation once all aspects of its process are understood.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Essay --

Through out the years we have seen numerous changes and evolution in the theories that make up archaeology. Archaeology was initially seen as a type of history or a historical study it focused mainly on the explication of the past, as well as gathering data to set chronologies. However many archaeologists feel that archaeology should focus on the explanation of the past rather than the explication of it. The first transformation that was documented produced â€Å"Processual Archaeology† it evolved from the old historical and antiquarian ways. Processual Archaeology was developed as a science, but was still deemed as inadequate to archaeologists in the 1990's. Post processual archaeology is the result of the criticism that processual archaeology has faced. It emphasizes the subjectivity of archaeological interpretations. Processual archaeologists however believed heavily on the scientific method therefore the data the derived was almost always objective. There is an obvious clash between these two schools of thought, one being subjective the other being objective, it's no wonder why there is a discrepancy between concepts such as culture. This research paper aims to examine in detail, Lewis Binford and the processual method of culture construction and compare it with Ian Hodder and the post processual method. By doing so I expect to find a discrepancy between their concepts of culture and how but more importantly why this discrepancy exists. Processual archaeology attempts to treat archaeology as a science, we know this because the scientific method is used to make objective inferences about archaeological data. These "Processualists" believed that it was indeed possible to break past the limits of archaeological record, and actu... ...had social hierarchies and prestige. When comparing the ways in which post processual and processual archaeologists interpret artifacts we can see that post processual archaeologists make cultural inferences using their own interpretations. Processualists however try to explain cultural change through environmental adaptations thus making objective inferences. According to post processual archaeology environmental determinism is one of processual archaeology's weaknesses along with a lack of human agency. It is clear that these two schools of thought have a lot they disagree on, and have their own views of how culture is constructed. Processual archaeology has allowed Ian Hodder to develop what we know today as post processual archaeology. However, despite the differences among them one can agree that without one another archaeology would not be what it is today.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Amendments to the Constitution Essay -- First Amendment, Second Amend

The framers of our Constitution knew that time has a way of changing countries and their citizens. Our country was in a whirlwind of change in 1789 as people were experiencing freedom from the tyranny of England for the first time in their lives. Our country was being molded and formed into a great nation by the founding fathers. Expectations and rules had to be set to protect the rights of the minorities and majorities. Amendments to the Constitution were written to ensure equality for all in changing times. The First Amendment is one of the most recognized rights in the Bill of Rights. It is a basic right that seems to help define each person as an individual yet as part of an association. The amendment states that â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances† (Constitution, Amendment 1) This amendment gave the right to secure and practice any religion. Religion was the reason that the Puritans left England. They wanted to be free to start their own churches and be free from religious persecution. The first amendment allows individuals the right to be part if any religion, if any, of their choosing. The vast majority of religious associations attest to this amendment: Catholics, Protestants, Scientologists, Jews, Hindus, and many, many more. United States citizens also enjoy the right to express themselves and their opinions in printed form or verbally. This is known as the freedom of the press. There are restrictions within reason, such as restrictions on libel and slander, and obscene act... ...ad a ban on handguns for 32 years. The ruling states that the Second Amendment guarantees the individual right to posses a firearm, even if they have no connection to a military organization, as long as the firearm is for law abiding reasons, such as self-defense in the home. (Fields, 2010). The First and Second Amendments will forever be ‘contemporary issues’. The rights that are guaranteed to us are the same ones that allow us to question our government and allow for change. It will be a challenge for our courts to keep up with the changing times yet keep our rights intact. These rights are part of the foundation of our society. The framers had insightful intent to include the basic rights of all people for generations. Our great nation has flourished because of these rights- they allow each all of us to be unique individuals while being completely whole.

Friday, August 2, 2019

Heroism in Stephen Cranes The Red Badge of Courage Essays -- Red Badg

Heroism in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The world of Stephen Crane's fiction is a cruel, lonely place. Man's environment shows no sympathy or concern for man; in the midst of a battle in The Red Badge of Courage "Nature had gone tranquilly on with her golden process in the midst of so much devilment" (89). Crane frequently anthropomorphizes the natural world and turns it into an agent actively working against the survival of man. From the beginning of "The Open Boat" the waves are seen as "wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall" (225) as if the waves themselves had murderous intent. During battle in The Red Badge of Courage the trees of the forest stretched out before Henry and "forbade him to pass. After its previous hostility this new resistance of the forest filled him with a fine bitterness" (104). More omnipresent than the mortal sense of opposition to nature, however, is the mortal sense of opposition to other men. Crane portrays the Darwinian struggle of men as forcing one man again st another, not only for the preservation of one's life, but also the preservation of one's sense of self-worth. Henry finds hope for escape from this condition in the traditional notion that "man becomes another thing in a battle"†¹more selfless and connected to his comrades (73). But the few moments in Crane's stories where individuals rise above self-preservation are not the typically heroicized moments of battle. Crane revises the sense of the heroic by allowing selfishness to persist through battle. Only when his characters are faced with the absolute helplessness of another human do they rise above themselves. In these grim situations the characters are reminded of their more fundamental opp... ...erryman, John, Stephen Crane:   A Critical Biography.   1950.   Rpt. In Discovering Authors.   Vers. 1.0. CD-ROM.   Detriot:   Gale, 1992. Bloom, Harold, ed.   Modern Critical Interpretations:   Stephan Crane's The Red Badge of Courage.   New Yourk:   Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Cody, Edwin H. Stephen Crane.   Revised Edition.   Boston:   Twayne Publishers, 1980. Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage.   Logan, IA:   Perfection Learning Corporation, 1979. Gibson, Donald B. The Red Badge of Courage:   Redefining the Hero.   Boston:   Twayne Publishers, 1988. Magill, Frank N., Magill's Survey:   American Literature Realism to 1945.   California:   Salem Press, Inc., 1963. Wolford, Chester L.   "Stephen Crane."   Critical Survey of Long Fiction.   Ed. Frank N. Magill.   English Language Series.   Vol. 2. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Salem Press, 1991      

Online Harassment & and Cyber Mobs Essay

Cyberbullying, we have all heard of it and most of us have even experienced it in some way or another. There is no doubt, that being deliberately harassed in hostile manners on the Internet can have fatal consequences for the victims. And fatal consequences were exactly what the 15-year-old Amanda Todd suffered. After various sorts of cyberbullying, Amanda Todd was broken down to her cores and on October 10 2012 she committed suicide. Amanda Todd became world famous for a YouTube video, where she exposed all of the different kinds of online harassment that she had been through. More or less the same thing happened to Anita Sarkeesian. Anita launched an online fundraising campaign, to create awareness of how female characters are portrayed as sexual stereotypes in videogames. Unfortunately, Anita did not only launch a campaign, but also the beginning of a time with harsh online harassment against herself, from people who disagreed with her project. Anita is now a major voice when it c omes to stopping the harassment of women on the Internet, which she proved in a speech at the TEDxWomen event in 2012. It is indisputable that Anita Sarkeesian has been through many negatively affected emotions when she was harassed on the Internet, and she is not afraid to let the audience know how it was like. She is of course using pathos to awaken the audience’s feelings, in order for her to get them on her side. Already in the beginning of the speech, she reaches for the audience’s emotions: â€Å"All of my social media were flooded with treats of rape, violence, sexual assaults, death – And you’ll notice that these treats and comments were all specifically targeting me gender.†1 As the quotation shows, the words that she has chosen are very powerful. Words like rape, violence and death are all words that have an immediate shock effect on the audience, which is truly in her favor. Another way that she communicates is with the use of humor. Multiple times throughout her speech she uses humorous words and phrases, which optimizes the relationship  between her and the receivers. In addition to the way that she engages the audience in her speech, Anita Sarkeesian also masters explicit speech techniques that help her persuade the audience. One example is a rhetorical question: â€Å"The idea being that if you were interested in the project, you could donate, and if you weren’t interested, you could choose not to donate. It’s pretty straight forward, right? I mean what could possibly go wrong? Yeah.†2 In other words, she is fully aware of that the audience knows that something will go wrong with the project; she just asks the question in order to benefit from the audience’s participation. It is small little tricks or techniques like these that help her persuade the audience. As I pointed out earlier, Anita practices pathos in her speech. This is withal not the only form of appeal that she practices. Anita also attempts to make herself a more trustworthy person and she does that by making herself appear as a strong character: â€Å"Do you wanna know what happened to my fundraiser after all that? Well first, the cyber mob failed to silence me, as is evidence of me being here today.†3 So even though cyber mobs tried to silence her, she remained strong and rose above the influence. And that definitely makes her a person to believe. But how is the issue of online harassment actually looked upon? Well, in Singapore located in Asia online harassment is looked upon with the same disgust as in America. They have likewise experienced suicidal female victims, and they are therefore ready to pass new laws against harassment on the Internet: â€Å"Victims of harassment suffer from insufficient protection and face an unclear path when seeking recourse, especially when harassment occurs or spills over to daily life. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law, Mr K. Shanmugam, has indicated that new laws on harassment will be tabled next year.†4 Hence this quotation, it is safe to say that online harassment is not just  some local coincidence, but actually a global problem. Otherwise it is no secret to anybody, that the Internet is the fastest way to spread and share ideas, so if online harassment is not yet a problem on a worldwide scale, then it is only a matter time before it is. On the other hand, there is always another side of the case, and online harassment is no exception. Just as easy as it is to receive emails with harassing matter or even Facebook messages and tweets, just as easy is it to delete it again. Some do for that reason, and other arguments as well, share the belief that online harassment is overrated and not an actual problem like physical bullying: â€Å"Cyber bullying is overrated, there, I said it. It is not a popular viewpoint to hold, but this is how I feel about cyber bullying issues (†¦) Emails can easily be filtered, forum insults can be reported and text messages can be filtered, blocked or used to trace back to the sender. Outside of the tracing part which can be left to the parent to handle, a child can be taught how to do the rest easily.†5 Although the quotation from above is just from an online blogger and not another expert in this particular field, it is still a suitable example of how online harassment is looked upon differently. Without saying that either stance is right or wrong, Anita Sarkeesian is a living proof of online harassment of women, which is enough reason for this topic to be discussed and perhaps dealt with. Anita Sarkeesian may be a decent speaker with good persuasive techniques, but that does not change the fact that her story is true. Luckily, she had the courage and strength to overcome the online harassment that she was put through, but many girls like Amanda Todd don’t have the same fortitude. However, it is also true that emails and other online communications systems are very easy to handle, thus it is possible with the right technical knowhow to secure oneself from online harassment and even cyber mobs. Despite the different views on this topic, online harassment is an ongoing thing and it definitely deserves attention.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

A reaction paper on the statement

Thomas Edison failed many times before successfully inventing the modern electric light bulb. He said, â€Å"If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.† Reflect on an accomplishment you achieved in an unlikely way.People are known for their ability of becoming the best individuals that they could be even in the middle of disadvantageous situations. It is undeniable that because of the many challenges that people have to live with, they are now able to understand the major issues that are involved within the system of real human living.Aside from gaining the knowledge of the realities about challenges, humans are now able to make the best out of the hardships that come along the way as they intend to be the best that they could be in facing their own lives. Thomas Edison has been among the major personalities in the human history that has been able to make certa in changes in the society through applying the said idealism of NEVER GIVING UP in the middle of major issues of survival in life.Consistently considering this particular fact of life has already made great changes and institutional breakthroughs in the society today. This is certainly the same with the situation that is dealt with by each individual that is considerably facing difficult problems and challenges as persons making up the society today.As for the case of the author of this paper, it could be observed that she has been able to wake up from a dark situation that challenged her ability to withstand the dangers and the hardships of being ill. Although she had been facing such problems with her health, she has been noted to actually understand that she should and must be able to continue her personal development even with so much challenges that she has to face because of her case.Because of this, it is undeniable that she was able to stand up again and become the kind of p erson she wants herself to be, a fighter. She chose to continue her studies amidst all the odds that faced her along the way to at least develop her own skills and make definite changes as to the way that she lives her life beyond all the challenges that she is supposed to deal with.Through this account of actual life experience, it could be noted that challenges are supposed to be faced as major probabilities of changes among human individuals. IT is through these challenges and difficulties that the human society tries to make a difference upon their lives. It is through this particular factor of life that each individual is able to become a stronger person who is able to face the different challenges in his own journey.People who are able to stand up again after a failure that may or may not be inflicted by their ownselves, are those whoa re able to make huge changes in the lives of many people, through inspiring them to fight for their right to a fine way of living and through b ecoming the pillars of truth that attests to the fact that standing up and not giving up is a major part of living a successful way of life.One’s real purpose in living could be identified to the ways by which he is particularly able to face the different challenges that he is naturally faced with in his own journey towards personal development and social connection as well.