The Trial Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Trial - Research Paper Example Population distribution In the 20th century both the number and distribution of Bornean orangutan has reduced tremendously to over 50% because of human activities that include unsustainable illegal logging, clearance of forests to provide land for agricultural purposes, hunting and mining. Large percentage of orangutans are currently found in Kalimantan because of the area has extensive forests still in existence. (Munn,63-65) Impact of humans activities on ecosystem Loss and degradation of orangutan Habitat The loss of habitat is the main threat to the survival of orangutan. For example, in Kalimantan, a large area of the forest has been cleared to create land for mega rice projects that have tremendously destroyed orangutan habitat. The situation is further worsened by the fact that even habitat in protected areas are vanishing at a high rate because of unclear delineation of the boundaries making it difficult to patrol. (Munn,59-62) Collateral damage a) Spread of fire b)hunting an d c) human-animal conflict. Hunting In south East Asia orangutans are hunted for meat and surplus hunt sold on pet market especially in most interior areas of Borneo. These because they can not run faster like other animals and therefore they are easily targeted by hunters even form a distance. This has resulted in the decline of the number of orangutan. This has been the main cause of low density of orangutans in the low hill forests especially areas around pawan river in the western Kalimantan) and katingan and basito river (central Kalimantan). The scale of hunting is increased because of forest fires which drive them away out of the forests where they are easily captured either for meat or sale in the pet markets. Furthermore, hunting is aggravated by destruction of forests either for timber or to create land for agricultural purposes. The forest is a source for food for orangutan and their destruction forces orangutan to venture out of the forests into the surrounding agricultu ral land destroying food crops and also acting as pests. Local people respond intolerantly to these apes by either shooting or poisoning them and taking the young orangutan which are either sold or slaughtered for meat.(Knott, 429-57) Conflict with human Orangutans are also killed when they move into farming land to destroy food crops. This happens when climatic conditions are adverse and the food available in the forest is less and hardly accessible. In addition, when the habitat of orangutan is destroyed either by fire or clearance of the forest where they dwell, they are forced to move to open field to look for food in agricultural farms where they are killed as to they are also regarded as pests The orangutans’ loss can also be attributed to Climate change. A great drought that preceded El Nino in 1998 had a negative impact on the survival of orangutan has it led to the great fire that destroyed a large portion of the forest cover in Sothern Asia. In the process, thousand s of orangutan was killed and it’s approximated that, over30% of orangutan in Borneo were destroyed by great forest fires in the last decade. Economic and political stability also played great role in the reduction of orangutan in south East Asia. Financial crisis and violent demonstration that led to the resignation of Suharto culminated into mass anarchy and political instability that increased both logging and poaching. In addition,

Assault and battery Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assault and battery - Coursework Example It is clear that contact sports imply random injuries. The difference is that when injuries are the result of deliberate, unfair, unacceptable and excessive use of violence, it becomes assault and/or battery, depending on the result. This is the case of aggressive players. In order to establish the existence of assault, the next test is applied: 1. Intentional, unlawful threat to hurt somebody; 2. The threatened person felt a well motivated fear of imminent attack and 3. The possibility of realizing the threat is undoubtful. A similar test is applied in order to establish battery: 1. The existence of a violent act towards the plaintiff; 2. The defendant willingfully used the violence and 3. The causation: the violent act hurt the plaintiff. Therefore, I believe that the user of a deliberate elbow to the face or a knee to the groin in basketball, the deliberate use of spikes by a runner in baseball, eye gouging in football, or other violence that causes unnecessary injuries in sports can be held liable for assault and/or battery, the key words in all this being deliberate and unnecessary.

Group Incentives Paper Essay Example for Free

Group Incentives Paper Essay Working on teams has been a part of many of the organizations I have been a part of however the majority of the time it isn’t easy to apply team concepts to each scenario. Throughout my life I have played sports, been a part of search and rescue organizations, the military, learning teams and other volunteer organizations such as the sheriff’s department. In the Army we work in teams within each department for an individual unit all providing support for the unit and units under our unit. It is the ability for the team to work with a cohesiveness and pull together each other’s personal strengths to accomplish the teams overall objectives. As a team, design two incentives created specifically for your team’s dynamics. In the unit I work in I am a part of an Operations section which is the heart and soul of the unit. Within the section each soldier is responsible for an individual area of tasking that contributes to the overall success of the unit. There is an Officer, a Non-Commissioned Officer (enlisted similar to a team manager), his assistant who serves more of an immediate supervisor and then each team member. Although we are all work in different positions performing not only different tasks but different jobs altogether; yet we all have to learn and understand each other’s primary positions so that if one team member is unable to work then what other team member is available is capable of stepping in to cover that position and meet those objectives. As an immediate supervisor I am responsible for ensuring that all goals or objectives are being met by the required timelines in order for the team to succeed. I bring to the team knowledge, experience, confidence, and leadership which are my strengths. Using the list of group roles identified by Kenneth Benne and Paul Sheats(Wynn, 2012) I fall in the category of coordinator; because of the team dynamics the members aren’t necessarily junior in position or rank which means they are self motivators as well as have their own unique skill sets and experience levels that they bring to the team. Therefore I have found that the leadership style that I bring as a coordinator pulling together knowledge, ideas and resources from the other members of the team and utilizing them is far more effective. My ability to coordinate versus using a typical management style of strictly delegating tasks and checking the status for completion benefits the team since it avoids confrontation and dissention between the members as myself. Recognizing and showing that the knowledge and skills that each person contributes is valued by utilizing individual strengths creates a balance and synergy in the team allowing the team to easily see how their contributions affect the team’s success. Since we were deployed overseas for combat operations throughout the training period and the course of the year more junior soldiers as well as peers were able to learn from my previous combat experience and the knowledge I have gained as well as encouraging others to share their unique skills as knowledge has fostered an environment that encourages sharing versus focusing more narrowly on one person alone. Negative Effects of Individual Strengths There have been times that it isn’t always beneficial to simply coordinate a tasking or try to go with the flow to avoid conflict. A high performance team that has a cumulative amount of skills and knowledge from a diverse background must at times be directed and have tasks delegated when there is conflict or a lack of cooperation between members of the team. The drawback of a team being together for long periods of time is that as it moves through all of the stages eventually it has to break up and members of the team move to other teams and projects. Within this scenario a team not only works together, eats together, lives together and exercises together with very little time to break away from the team and therefore with have a higher level of stress compounded by separation from many other norms as well as the overall austere working conditions. During situations such as this it is not always beneficial to stay with one leadership or management style instead you have to le arn to adapt to the groups culture at the time and change as it changes. Room for Improvement One skill that I lack in is in a different scenario working with a learning team I have found that since the time frame for the team to move through each phase is so short and suspense times are equally so I tend to fail to become engaged earlier enough on in the process. The teams are formed at the end of the first week but not engaging until well into the end of the second week but only for a short time as the requirement for the team to perform isn’t until well into the third week I am still working mainly as an individual and failing to engage the team as early as possible. Another skill I need to work on is communication in respect to problem-solving; In this area with such as short time for a team to form, storm, norm and accomplish its objectives it is important for the team to communicate effectively any problems they are having either individually or as a team as quickly as possible to allow them to pull together resources utilizing the teams strengths to solve the pr oblem. Although I work on teams in the military often times I have been taught and needed to be capable of operating independently using personal knowledge and experience to work through a problem in isolated environments. Because of that I find that I will find myself doing so trying to struggle to work through a problem on my own instead of engaging my team, taking the time to learn and get to understand each member to allow them to come together utilizing their strengths. This process is much more effective and will tend to find solutions to a problem much more quickly. Problem solving techniques One technique I use to work through problems is a speaker- listener technique causes me to work to not simply hear but to listen to the problem to understand what the true problem is isolating it from non essential information that can cause someone to become derailed from the core issue while attempting to solve other problems that are simply effects not the cause. Another problem solving technique that I could use would be establishing a structured forum working to communicate a problem with a group or team communicating effectively and in a timely manner not letting time elapse before utilizing this method. Ultimately this would pull more resources allowing for more creative ideas that are more than one dimensional and would work to foster a more cohesive team learning environment. References McClelland, D. (1961). Methods of Measuring Human Motivation. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand.

Lady Macbeth is one of the most striking characters in the play Essay Example for Free

Lady Macbeth is one of the most striking characters in the play Essay Lady Macbeth is one of the most striking characters in the play. What are your feelings toward this character and how do they change as the play progresses? What makes Lady Macbeth so striking in her first few scenes is her manipulative, vindictive nature. She is a very controlling character yet we see her troubled mind reveal itself as the play progresses. Her most famous scene, Act 5 scene 1, allows the audience to see how she has truly been affected by the murders in which she had been involved. She is sleep walking and revealing unconsciously her emotions toward the untimely deaths of King Duncan, Banquo and the Macduff household. I have little sympathy for this character because if it were not for her driving Macbeth to the murder of Duncan, he most probably would not have become so obsessed with his infatuation of becoming king. As we see in Act 1 scene 5 she is extremely ambitious about the prospect of Macbeths power increasing. She talks of murder without an ounce of guilt and merely worries over her husband being too gentle to actually commit the execution of the king. She refers to him being too full othemilk of human kindness and states that he is in fact without ambition and so would not carry out the deed properly. Her personality could, however, be extremely ambitious regardless of the state of power that her husband is in, the situation could have brought out the most of her desire. In each of her scenes we see a new side to her personality. During Act 1 scene 5 we see her praying to evil spirits in her soliloquy for her to become more masculine and evil, with any feminine attributes and natures to be stripped from her, implying that she also may need a little push to make her ambitious enough to commit the murders. This also suggests to the audience that her conscious would probably not let her commit those crimes alone. She asks the evil spirits to Come to my womans breasts/And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers. However, when Macbeth arrives home, he refers to her as my dearest love she then immediately sets about manipulating him and goading him into the murder. When she learns of Duncan coming to dinner, she administrates ideas of looking above suspicion. She tells him look like thinnocent flower/But be the serpent undert. Shakespeare uses very expressive language here with contrasting imagery of a flower (which represents good) and a serpent (which represents evil). This could also be interpreted as a metaphor for Macbeths relationship with his wife in that when Lady Macbeth is plotting murderous schemes and manipulating her husband, Macbeth is presented in a good and vulnerable light. The same applies for when Macbeth decides to take the murders further and the audience gains sympathy for his wife. Macbeth is left with little to say and is interrupted by his wife on several occasions in that scene, providing the audience with a clear insight into Shakespeares intentions for the hierarchy within the relationship. That hierarchy being where Macbeth is more or less controlled by what Lady Macbeth tells him to do, almost like a spell of her own. This provides strong evidence for those who believe that Lady Macbeth herself is a witch of some kind. In Act 1 scene 6 Duncan arrives at Macbeths castle with other various guests and originally comments on the pleasant air that it gives off, referring to it as Nimbly and sweet. This presents the audience with a dose of dramatic irony as they know that what really lies inside the castle itself is as evil and twisted as its inhabitants. He also refers to Lady Macbeth as Our honoured hostess.- The love/That follows us sometime is our trouble. The problem with Lady Macbeth in this scene is that she is elaborately polite and good natured that it could easily appear to be insincere. She tells Duncan that she has checked and double checked that everything is sufficiently in order. She tells him she will pray for him constantly and speaks of loyalty and gratitude for past kind deeds. Shakespeare is rather repetitive when it comes to Lady Macbeths lines, she speaks continuously of her homage to him and the effort they are making for him. This is in an obvious bid for her to gain their trust and it does indeed work. Duncan reacts graciously towards this most probably due to his age and gratitude for the effort made. Act 1 scene 7 sees Lady Macbeth belittling her husband in an attempt for him to agree whole heartedly to killing the king of Scotland. She uses foul phrases with appalling imagery such as telling Macbeth that while she was breast feeding her baby she would: while it was smiling in my face/Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums/And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn. She tries to come over as very menacing and heartless at this point in the play, making a point of the fact that if she had promised to kill her own child she would do so, however, after the murder of Duncan, she contradicts herself rather strongly as she comments on being able to kill her father. In Act 2 scene 2, Macbeth returns from killing the king to discuss the event with his wife. Shakespeare uses this as an opportunity for the audience to feel sympathy as we see his grief and guilt. We also get to see a very new side to Lady Macbeth, she admits that if he had not looked like her own father she would have done the deed herself, showing that underneath her hard exterior, there are elements of compassion and guilt that though she expresses little, she still feels them just like any other human being. The audience then sees her snap out of her sensitive phase and channel her emotions into reassuring and controlling her husband. She tells him to dismiss his hallucinations about the dagger and to return them to frame the guards who were guarding Duncans room. These deeds must not be thought/After these ways; so, it will make us mad. The audience could consider this as foreshadowing of what occurs as the play progresses as both Lady Macbeth and her husband experience mental disturbances because of the horrific crimes they committed. Hands are used as a metaphor throughout this scene and as an extended metaphor throughout the play. Macbeth refers to his as hangmans hands and uses phrases such as ravelled sleeve of care, whereas Lady Macbeth is far more literal and tells him to wash this filthy witness from your hand. This could be interpreted as the hands representing guilt and so each character handles the guilt in different ways; Macbeth is very open about his guilt and remorse by using dramatic devices such as personification and metaphors, for example: Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor/Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more. Lady Macbeth, however, deals with her culpability in a different way in that she pretends to feel nothing towards the situation but it obviously haunts her as we see in her final scene in Act 5 scene 1 where she sleep walks and hallucinates. Shakespeare illustrates this well when Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth for being so gentle: My hands are of your colour, but I shame/To wear a heart so white. She also says rather flippantly, A little water clears us of this deed./How easy is it then! Your constancy/Hath left you unattended. Shakespeares intention for this scene, I think, was to show us that there is a sensitive, guilty side underneath her shell of ambition and malevolence. Act 2 scene 3 sees Macduff discovering Duncans murder with great astonishment. He alerts the whole castle including Banquo, Malcolm and Donaldbain of the kings death and so Lady Macbeth enters. She acts very much like thinnocent flower by pretending to be oblivious to what had happened in the previous scene, Whats the business/That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley/The sleepers of the house? Then with immense dramatic irony, Macduff replies calling her gentle lady and commenting on the fact that the talk of murderous deeds is too tender for a womans ears. The audience would find this somewhat amusing as they know that Lady Macbeth is solely responsible for the murder of Duncan and so would not in any way find the subject too sensitive or painful. She reacts in a way similar to that when she was attending to Duncan in Act 1 scene 6, where she is very elaborate in her efforts to help, creating a suspiciously false air about her. She then dramatically faints and is carried out, she is lucky that the people around her are so affected by the murder that they do not overtly notice her over the top antics. Lady Macbeth experiences a loss of power and control in Act 3 scene 2, where Macbeth arranges his next murder without her involvement. Shakespeare has her character showing compassion to her husbands sorriest fancies when he complains of insecurity about his dangerous thoughts and deeds. She tries to make him forget what has happened by instructing him: Using those thoughts which should indeed have died/With them think on? Things without all remedy/Should be without regard; whats done, is done. The audience at this moment does not know that Lady Macbeth doesnt practice these ideas herself and in fact reveals her guilt subconsciously. My feelings toward Lady Macbeth at this time are cold and my sympathy leans toward Macbeth as we see him feeling very remorseful and suicidal. He mentions, Better be with the dead/Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,/Than on the torture of the mind to lie/In restless ecstasy. However as we see a new side to Macbeth where he is plotting murders without her it does make me wonder would he have killed Duncan without her influence? Lady Macbeth presents herself as the gracious hostess once more as she invites the lords to dinner in Act 3 scene 4. At the beginning of the scene the audience is presented with the news of Banquos slaughter. Lady Macbeth suspects this but is not directly informed as her husband has somewhat distanced himself from her, implying that he does not need her influences for villainous thoughts any more, he can do it all by himself now. This scene manages to arouse some sympathy for Lady Macbeth as we see her power lessening downfall. This could be what ultimately leads to her suspected suicide. The audience gets to understand that Shakespeare did not want to present Lady Macbeth as a character who takes pleasure in the sight of bloodshed and gore, but one who craves power and enforces her ambitions upon those she can manipulate. We also see a role reversal here for the second time in the play. She already has upset the natural order of marital hierarchy from the beginning of the play where she presents herself in the dominant role which was extremely uncommon for that period. Then as the play progresses she becomes part of a downward spiral where she loses power and the status within the marriage as she becomes the more recessive figure next to her now dominant husband. The ghost of Banquo makes an appearance at the dinner table in this scene but of course only Macbeth can see (another one of his deluded hallucinations). He becomes extremely unsettled by this and begins to shout at the ghost with a fiery passion that stuns the rest of his guests. Thou canst not say I did it; never shake/Thy gory locks at me! Ross initiates the lords standing up and leaving their new king in peace to rest and collect himself but Lady Macbeth being thinnocent flower that she pretends to be assures the lords that he is fine and is just unwell. The audience feel some sort of consideration for her as we can see her husbands mental health deteriorates and her power disintegrate. She snaps at Macbeth Are you a man? as she quite obviously feels utterly embarrassed by his reactions to the ghost. She tries to use this as an opportunity to regain her status above Macbeth which is understandable as she feels defeated but is selfish considering her husbands state. In the most dramatic scene in Lady Macbeths presence on stage, the audience is given the opportunity to see the REAL Lady Macbeth as her subconscious takes over her physical state. At the beginning of her last scene, Act 5 scene 1, the doctor and gentlewoman are analysing her recent behaviour, She has light by her continually, tis her command. As light is a common metaphor for purity this insinuates that she doesnt want to be considered evil and wants to redeem herself but cant because she is too involved to dig herself out now and so her subconscious speaks the words she cannot. Out damned spot! Out, I say! One, two. Why then tis time to dot. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear? Who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? This is one of the most remembered speeches in Shakespeares literature and is so because of its quirky formation. Shakespeare has used very disjointed language with punctuation separating every short phrase. This translates to her being very edgy and emotionally unstable. She then reels off a list of other people for which she feels responsible for their deaths as well as her husband. She refers back to the common theme of hands which has occurred throughout the play. What, will these hands neer be clean? All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O. She still refers to her hands as being little and the need for them to be sweetened and so this indicates the want for her to be filled with good and that she is feeling genuine guilt and mental anguish. This anguish finally leads to her suicide by unspecified means. Shakespeare probably chose not to present the death of Lady Macbeth on stage to add to the impact of her exit and last scene and also to be slightly ambiguous. I think a dying scene would have been effective for Lady Macbeths last scene, she could perhaps have given a soliloquy explaining how she truly was feeling. To conclude, it is evident that Shakespeare had Lady Macbeths emotional state disintegrate as the play proceeded to in effect show the downfall of a control freak. It is undecided whether or not she is pretending to be the controlling evil person which her persona appears to be but that is in a way irrelevant as it was certainly influential enough to drive her husband to multiple homicides. She was certainly a brave character for going against the Chain of Being in which God was considered to be ultimately at the top with monarchs under that and other members of society such as lords and townsfolk following after, but at the bottom were women and so she was courageous to consider herself to be above even monarchy! Though wrong it is admirable, especially considering what was said if the chain of being was to be disrupted, that chaos would arise, disrupting the natural order of life on earth and in the heavens which is seen as inexcusable. I personally think that Lady Macbeth was blamed for a lot that wasnt entirely her fault. It is implied that because Macbeth ended Banquos life and slaughtered Macduffs wife and children in a desperate bid for the throne, he was emotionally capable of murdering Duncan all by himself. In the first two acts we have little sympathy for Lady Macbeth as Shakespeare only provides the audience with her vindictive exterior, at this time we cannot see what she is truly thinking and feeling. It is only as the play progresses that we understand WHY she turns out to be the way that she is, that she has a very ambitious character and so enforces that upon her husband. She feels that Macbeth becoming king will benefit them both and sees killing the existing king as the fastest way to get to the throne. She then becomes gradually defeated as Macbeths ambition and obsession with becoming king begins to soar and spiral. She is then over-ridden with guilt and eventually feels that she cannot bear the guilt that torments her troubled mind and so decides to end it all.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase: From Ethanol To Acetaldehyde

Alcohol Dehydrogenase: From Ethanol To Acetaldehyde (20) 1. Alcohol dehydrogenase (AD) is an enzyme which catalyzes the reaction of its natural substrate ethanol to form acetaldehyde. The Km of AD, from rhinoceros livers, for ethanol is 1 X 10-3M. This enzyme is however somewhat non-specific and will recognize substrates other than ethanol. How would the kinetic plot be affected if AD were to separately catalyze methanol and isopropanol instead of ethanol? Assume that the overall Vmax remains the same in all 3 cases. How would the Km change for methanol compared to ethanol (higher, lower, the same)? How would the Km change for isopropanol compared to ethanol (higher, lower, the same)? How would the Kms of methanol and isopropanol compare (which higher than the other or about the same). Based upon your knowledge of the mechanisms by which enzymes work, briefly explain how you decided to place your new Kms. Hint: The alcohols are being added separately. There is not any kind of competition between the alcohols. They are not included in the same reaction. For your reference, the structures of these alcohols are below. Because ethanol is the natural substrate of Alcohol dehydrogenase (AD), AD would have a higher affinity and bind more readily to ethanol than other alcohols, including methanol and isopropanol. Because AD has a higher affinity for ethanol than other alcohols, its Km would be lower than methanol and isopropanol. The lower the Michaelis constant (Km) the less substrate required to get to  ½ Vmax or  ½ the maximum reaction rate and the higher the affinity of the enzyme for the substrate. Higher Km means more substrate concentration to reach  ½ Vmax and less affinity of the enzyme for the substrate. Vmax or the maximum reaction rate can be approached, but never actually reached. The Km for methanol would be higher than ethanol, thus requiring more substrate to reach  ½ Vmax and demonstrating lower affinity of AD for methanol. The Km for isopropanol would be higher than ethanol, thus requiring more substrate to reach  ½ Vmax and demonstrating lower affinity of AD for isopropanol . The Km for methanol would be lower than the Km for isopropanol and show a higher affinity for AD. The Michaielis-Menten kinetic plot would reflect a Km of 110-3M at  ½ Vmax for ethanol, a Km greater than 110-3M for methanol and a Km greater than the Km of methanol for isopropanol. The overall Vmax is the same for all three, so the  ½ Vmax for all three will stay the same. The plotted curve would become less vertical with the initial angle for ethanol becoming more acute and the curve becoming more linear as it changed from ethanol to methanol to isopropanol. Ethanol is ADs natural substrate, so based on enzyme mechanisms, it is able to bind more readily to AD due to its size and shape which fits ADs active site and allows ethanol to get close enough to create hydrogen bonds. The substrate and enzyme change confirmation and become destabilized which stabilizes the transition state, lowers the energy of activation and allows easier formation of the reaction products. Methanol and isopropanol do not bind as well, likely due to their structure or size and shape. Methanol is one carbon shorter which would prevent it from fitting in the AD site as well as ethanol and has fewer numbers of hydrogens, reducing H-bonding potential. Isopropanol is one carbon larger than ethanol which might make it too bulky to effectively bind to AD. Isopropanol is a secondary alcohol, with two carbon atoms attached to the carbon bonded to the OH, creating a bulky Y shape and not a chain alcohol like methanol and ethanol. This conformation and bulky shape prevents isopropanol from binding more readily than methanol, which is similar to ethanols linear shape. (10) 2. Briefly explain the protein cleavage involved in the maturation of an insulin molecule from proinsulin. Briefly explain 3 reasons why it is important that insulin be made as an inactive precursor requiring editing. Hint: Think in terms of things that would be important to the action of insulin (decreasing blood sugar). Protein cleavage is post-translational processing. Proinsulin is the precursor to insulin. Proinsulin is a polypeptide chain that loops around to form two disulfide bonds between four cysteine amino acids, two near either end. Endopeptidase cuts two molecules by proteolysis to remove the middle portion of the polypeptide. The final disulfide stabilized protein is insulin. Inactive proinsulin allows for optimal intracellular insulin stores that can be edited or activated quickly if needed to lower blood sugar and quickly prevent hyperglycemia. Proinsulins can be produced rapidly in response to elevated blood sugar with the post-translational processing switched off quickly; leaving the inactive molecules, once blood sugar is under control. Proinsulin is important because it is not degraded until it is needed, thus does not cause harmful low blood sugar levels and maintains sustained basal levels of insulin in the body. (10) 3. Briefly and individually outline the mechanisms of action for covalent, competitive, non-competitive, and uncompetitive enzyme inhibitors indicating how they effect enzyme action. For each type of inhibitor, describe a unique example of how we could learn something valuable, and at least somewhat practical, about an enzyme from each type of inhibitor study. The mechanism of action for covalent enzyme inhibitors is covalent binding in the enzyme active site and thus preventing substrate binding. This is irreversible and completely deactivates the enzyme requiring more enzymes to be produced to catalyze the reaction. This could tell us what amino acids bind in the enzyme active site by identifying covalent inhibitor modified functional groups and also substrate binding order. The mechanism of action for competitive enzyme inhibitors is they are shaped like the substrate and can bind in the enzyme active site, blocking the substrates binding. Competitive inhibitors can be outcompeted by increasing the substrate concentration and are reversible. Competitive inhibitors could be used to determine enzyme substrate affinities by finding out how much substrate is required and how long it takes to get back to  ½ Vmax. The mechanism of action for non-competitive enzyme inhibitors is they bind in a place other than the enzyme active site, allowing the substrate to bind, but they destabilize the transition state which hinders the enzyme by obstructing its proper performance and reducing Vmax. Non- competitive inhibitors are reversible, but cannot be outcompeted because they do not bind to the active site. Non-competitive inhibitors could be used to determine an enzymes induced fit mode of action as the substrate would still be able to bind, but not fully react. The mechanism of action for uncompetitive enzyme inhibitors is the substrate and inhibitor bind together in multi-substrate enzymes. While substrate binding and Km seem better, velocity is less because the inhibitor acts as part of the substrate. They are reversible. Uncompetitive inhibitors could be used to determine effective drug therapies by inhibiting an enzyme to varying degrees without permanently altering it, counter acting large amounts of the multi-substrate enzyme but not eliminating it from performing other useful functions. (10) 4. In discussing advances in molecular biotechnology, we mentioned 2 processes whose names sound remarkably similar called RFLP and AFLP. These two processes indeed share some similarities, but have many differences. Briefly explain 2 significant similarities that these share in their processes. Briefly explain 2 significant differences in terms of what these processes are used for. One similarity in RFLP and AFLP processes is cutting DNA for RFLP and cDNA for AFLP with restriction enzymes to create fragments. Another similarity is that DNA is electrophoresed in RFLP to separate different sized restriction fragments creating unique patterns for organisms or individuals (with the exception of twins) much like fingerprints and used for comparison. PCR products are electrophoresed in AFLP to compare tissues, experiments or expression profiling. One difference in what these processes are used for is RFLP is used to compare DNA from people or organisms for genetic fingerprinting and forensics, and AFLP is used to profile gene expressions (requiring mRNA to be converted to cDNA) of uncharacterized tissues, organisms or experiments. Another difference is AFLP can be used for Quantitative Trait Loci which help identify multifactorial inheritance of traits and assist in genome mapping, whereas RFLP is not used for QTL, but can be used for identifying a persons predisposition for a particular disease. (10) 5. Life on the planet Zornock encodes its genetic info in overlapping nucleotide triplets such that the translation apparatus shifts only one nucleotide at a time. In other words, if we had the nucleotide sequence ABCDEF on Earth this would be two codons (ABC DEF) whereas on Zornock it would be 4 codons (ABC, BCD, CDE, DEF) and the beginning of two others. Briefly explain and compare the effect of each of the following types of mutations on the amino acid sequence of a protein in 1) an earthling and 2) a Zornocker. A. The addition of one nucleotide. B. The deletion of one nucleotide. C. The deletion of 3 consecutive nucleotides. Assume these all occur in the middle of a gene. X = added nucleotide, ? = unknown nucleotide A1. One nucleotide added resulting in ABCXDEF in the earthling would create a frameshift that would produce the original codon ABC, a new codon XDE and one codon beginning F. A2. One nucleotide added resulting in ABCXDEF in the Zornocker would create one new codon, making a total of 5 codons, (ABC, BCX, CXD, XDE, DEF) and the beginning of two other codons EF? and F. B1. The deletion of one nucleotide resulting in ABCEF in the earthling would create a frameshift that would produce one original codon, ABC and two different beginnings EF? and F. B2. The deletion one nucleotide resulting in ABCEF in the Zornocker would result in 3 complete codons, ABC, BCE and CEF and two beginnings EF? and F. C1. The deletion of three consecutive nucleotides resulting in ABF in the earthling would create a frameshift that would result in one new codon, ABF. C2. The deletion of three consecutive nucleotides resulting in ABF in the Zornocker would result in one new codon and two partial codons, ABF and the beginnings BF? and F. The insertions and deletions in the earthling would produce a frameshift, creating different codons and a different polypeptide chain from the mutation on. Other effects of the frameshift could be inserting a different AA into the polypeptide or stopping translation altogether. These genotype effects could create non-functioning proteins or fragments, partially functioning proteins or no protein expression. The insertions and deletions in the Zornocker would add or remove codons at the site of the mutation, but would not alter the polypeptide chain after the mutation due to the overlapping nucleotide triplets. (10) 6. Imagine that weve isolated a new and potentially useful mutation in an existing model plant. Our goal as biotechnologists might be to characterize the mutation, figure out what protein it affects, figure out how it is expressed, figure out how it is controlled, and how to best take advantage of it for crop improvement. Using the techniques that weve covered so far, briefly outline a series of experiments and expected results, using at least 5 of the techniques weve discussed, to attempt to achieve the above goals. Hint: There is more than one way to do this. 1 In order to characterize the mutation, we could use Sanger DNA sequencing to determine the amino acid sequence of the mutated gene. We use a primer and DNA polymerase to start DNA synthesis. We then prepare reactions with dideoxynucleotides (ddNTP) for each nitrogenous base, A, T, C and G. We run the reactions with normal nitrogenous bases and one ddNTP nitrogenous base representing either A, T, C or G. The ddNTPs terminate the DNA chains and when all the reactions are electrophoresed on a gel with lanes A, T, C and G, we can read from the bottom up to determine the DNA sequence. We could then compare the DNA sequence to the sequence of the existing model plant to determine the differences in amino acid sequences caused by the mutation. 2. In order to characterize what protein it affects, we could detect gene expression and protein interactions by using qRT-PCR. First we create mRNA by transcribing the mutant DNA genes. Next, we convert the mRNA using reverse transcriptase to cDNA. Then we run a qPCR on the cDNA and add SYBR green to the products. SYBR green intercalates the DNA and we can measure the fluorescence and determine the number of mRNA copies, thus determining which proteins are affected. 3. In order to figure out how it is expressed, we could use DNA microarray and protein microarray analysis. With DNA microarrays we obtain gene chips and hybridize fluorescently labeled cDNA from the tissues containing the mutation. The mutation sample is compared to the model sample in parallel microarrays. A machine then analyzes and overlays the images to measure transcript levels, identify products and determine upregulation and downregulation of many proteins. We could also use protein microarrays which are similar to DNA microarrays, but are used to identify other proteins and compounds a protein interacts with. At times, protein function can be inferred by analyzing the environment in which it is expressed. 4. To figure out how it is controlled, we could use in situ hybridization to locate the mutant gene expression products or RNA molecules produced. First we chemically fix sample tissues to slides. With DNA probes we could localize mRNAs to see which cells and where in these cells the gene is being expressed. We could probe with antibodies to determine which proteins are being translated. We could add or subtract associated enzymes, substrates and cofactors and alter internal and external cell conditions to see how this changes the gene expression and thus determine how the gene is controlled. 5. To determine how best to take advantage of it, we could genetically engineer the model plant with the mutation by inserting the mutant DNA into a Ti plasmid, creating a recombinant Ti plasmid, and have Agrobacterium introduce that into the model plant. The Ti plasmid would recombine with the model plant DNA and create a genetically engineered plant that expresses the new trait. We could then run various experiments on the genetically engineered plant to determine if the trait is expressed as desired and if not, change the variables until we get the advantage we are looking for.

Finding the End to Genetic Diseases :: Genetics Science Genes Health Essays

The United States has a very diverse heritage. There is no "American" race. Americans are the blending of many cultures throughout many generations. With this blending of cultures comes a blending of genes. In the past, genes have not been well understood. They were not understood until Mendel did experiments on plants to find out why different plants of the same species had different characteristics. His goal was to find the key to unlock the mystery of inheritance (Copeland and Hammer 12). After many years of collecting data, he unlocked the door. He discovered that the child gets one element from each parent for every trait. He also discovered that one of them is more "dominant," and shows up over the other, recessive, one (Brown 16). He published his results, but their significance was not understood at the time. "Sixteen years after his death, three people believed to have the key. Looking for other results to verify the ideas, they came across Mendel's results" (14). Their dat a agreed, and with this a new science was born - the science of Genetics (15). Due to modern medicine, such as antibiotics and rehabilitation, many genetic diseases have been allowed to survive. In nature, these diseases would not have survived to the extent that they do now. Advances in science and medicine have allowed these problems to thrive. Further advances in science may be able to terminate genetic diseases through cloning. Genetic problems have plagued the United States for centuries. Genetic diseases and mutations are more prevalent in today's world than ever before, due to advances in medicine (CHMG). Charles Darwin's theory of evolution stated that only the strong survive (Lutz 10). Modern medicine has changed that theory by allowing the weak, or people with genetic diseases, to survive. Genetic defects are caused by mutations. "When genes change in any way, they produce permanent new characteristics called mutations" (Copeland and Hamer 19). On that note, "there have been many which have had little effect on us, while others have been important in our development" (19). Along with the necessary mutations, there are "mutations that can cause serious, and sometimes fatal, disease" (Brown 16). There are many factors that may cause mutation, such as genetic accidents, environmental hazards, and human sources. The genetic accidents are regular mutations in the cells where "chemical changes in the cell cause a breakdown in the normal structure of a gene or a group of genes" (28).

My Personal Philosophy of Education Essays -- Philosophy of Teaching S

Philosophy of Education As a child, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said that I wanted to do something to help other people. I realized that even though teachers do not get a lot of respect, or money, they have the greatest job anyone could ever hope for. They help children become adults. All children are inspired by someone to be what they will become in the future. Teachers inspire those of all professions; police officers, firefighters, secretaries, carpenters, bankers, trash collectors, actors, truck drivers, fast food workers, scientists, inventors, doctors, lawyers, even the president. Imagine how it would feel to know that you are the reason someone developed something to benefit mankind, saved a life, or became the first female president of the United States of America. Hopefully, as a teacher I can inspire a child to fulfill all of their dreams. As a teacher I hope to help my students set and achieve goals. Another goal of mine is to get my students to feel good about themselves. These are things they can take with them and use in the future. I will teach students about other cultures and races in an attempt to produce students more accepting, compassionate, and understanding of situations encountered in life. My students will understand that just because someone is not like you, does not mean that there is something wrong with them. Everyone is different in his or her own special way. The purpose of education is not to pre...