Cystic Fibrosis Essay -- Biology Genetic Defect

CF is caused by an inherited recessive genetic defect that is most prevalent in the white population. About 1 in 23 people in the United States carry at least one defective gene, making it the most common genetic defect of its severity. CF patients suffer from chronic lung problems and digestive disorders caused by a cellular defect in the transport of chloride ion. The problem in chloride handling results in loss of chloride in sweat which, in fact, is the basis for the clinical diagnosis of CF. As a consequence of the lesion in chloride transport patients' lungs become covered with sticky mucus which is difficult to remove and can promote infection by bacteria. Many people with CF require frequent hospitalizations and continuous usage of antibiotics, enzyme supplements, and other medications. In the past, the life expectancy of people with CF used to only be 8 years. However, with today's many medical advances, the average life expectancy is just under 30 years and is continuing to increase. Common cystic fibrosis symptoms involve: high amounts of salt (sodium and chloride) and potassium in sweat constant coughing and wheezing large amounts of mucus in the lungs recurring pneumonia failure to gain weight frequent, greasy, bulky, and strong-smelling bowel movements through the small intestine enlargement of fingertips and toes due to insufficient amount of oxygen in these areas Males with CF are sterile, and women who have CF can have problems with their menstrual cycles and becoming pregnant. CF slows down sexual development but brings no adverse effect upon it. Cystic Fibrosis: Fact or Fiction? "Woe to that child which when kissed on the forehead tastes salty. He is... ...olyte composition affects bacterial survival which provides an explanation for why CF airways are not maintained as a sterile environment. The data speculates that the bactericidal factor produced by airway epithelia may be a defensin-like molecule because it has characteristics of such factors. The results presented in the paper also link the molecular defect in CFTR Cl channels to the pathogenesis of CF lung disease. Most importantly the data suggests new approaches for therapy such as measurements of salt concentration and bactericidal activity may be clinically relevant assays for determining the effectiveness of potential therapeutic interventions. The data also raises the possibility that new interventions designed to correct the abnormally high salt concentration in CF fluid could be of benefit in treating or preventing airway infections in people with CF.

Should We Spend Time In The Sun?

Sunbathing and getting a suntan is getting more and more popular nowadays. Researches show a trend of getting suntan, just for fashion and good-looking, as they consider suntans to be healthy and attractive. Especially in the case of teenagers, no matter boys or girls, who mostly do this because of following their idols' appearance or even as a habit or an obsession (Source 1 and 2). Because of this, more and more people tend to spend their holidays abroad as to get a suntan by holidaying in hot countries and using sunbed. Between 1971 and 2001, the number of trips had increased form 4. millions to 38. 7 millions, making a huge difference of over 9 times (Source 3). Also people are spending a lot of money to create fake tan and to use sunbed. Unfortunately, researches show that people who sunbathe show a higher risk of getting skin cancer, and the earlier they start, the higher the risk (Source 2 and 4). From the researches, I can see that in recent years, more and more people are willing to spend money on using sunbeds and creating fake tans (Source 2), so the income and popularity of these businesses increases. Also, a trend of holidaying in hot and sunny countries is shown (Source 3 and 4), creating more business opportunities for tourism in countries such as Italy and Spain. It is believed that spending time in the sun is the main cause of skin cancer (Source 5 and 6). The energy from the sun contains Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and there are two types of rays that exist in it, which are Ultraviolet A (UVA) and Ultraviolet B (UVB). They damage DNA, the genetic material that makes up genes. Genes control the growth and overall health of skin cells. If the genetic damage is severe, a normal skin cell may grow abnormally in the way of cancer cells. UV can also cause sunburn, and other damage that makes the skin look prematurely old and wrinkled. That is why many protection attempts are taken, such as avoiding excessive exposure to the sun (Source 6), and using sunscreen to increase our protection, the higher the Sun Protection Factor (SPF), the higher the protection you get (Source 7 and 8) The chances of getting a suntan, sunburn or skin cancer depend on many factors. One of the main factors is your skin colour (Source 9 and 10), the darker your skin, the lower the chance of getting any of the above. The other factor is the Sun Protection Factor of the sunscreen you apply (Source 8). The more you apply and the higher the factor gives more protection, and this results in less solar energy absorption. Another factor I found is the life expectancy. Due in large part to advances in medical technology, life expectancy for newborns has increased continuously over the past 70 years, from 57. 1 years in 1929 to 77. years in 2004, and an increase of more than two years in the past decade. (Source 11) Life expectancy affects the amount of sun exposure in a lifetime, which causes a higher risk of getting skin cancer because of a longer time of sun exposure. On the other hand, moderate and sensible sunlight exposure can help prevent skin cancer and some other cancers. In the case of skin cancer, sunlight causes vitamin D to synthesize in the body, giving some protection from the risk. This production of vitamin D can act as an immunity response from the body receiving Ultraviolet B rays from sunlight (Source 12, 13 and 14). Studies also show that people who get malignant melanoma but also have a high amount to daily sun exposure have a higher survival rate than people with less exposure. It is said that sunlight is more powerful than any drug, which is safe, effective and available free of charge (Source 12). I also found out that the amount of vitamin D our body need can be fulfilled by around thirty minutes in the sun each week (Source 15). Having some sunshine also affects our mood, as it stimulates the pineal gland to produce mood enhancing chemicals, called trytamines in the brain (Source 14). The sun can also help you achieve a good look if you like a healthy suntan (Source 14). In my opinion, I think we should not spend time in the sun, because our health is very important, and we should never take the risk of having skin cancer, especially not because of the desire for a suntan and to sacrifice their health. I think it is a waste of money and time to sunbathe. As for the production of vitamin D in our skin, which can be easily fulfilled by a thirty minutes sun exposure each week, we can do that by just having a walk.

Issues Of Net Neutrality - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1373 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/04/10 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Net Neutrality Essay Did you like this example? Since the invention of the internet, the number of devices connected to the internet has been growing rapidly. As of 2016 it is estimated that over 3 billion (about half of the worlds population) is connected to the web. As the internet grows, slowly differing opinions and issues begin to crop up, including the idea of Net Neutrality which has been fiercely debated in the last decade. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Issues Of Net Neutrality" essay for you Create order Net Neutrality is the idea that all lawful traffic on the internet should be trated the same (Becker; Gharakheil). ISPs should not be allowed to block or throttle content because they were paid to do so or if they were not paid enough. ISPs also should not be allowed to censor content simply because they do not agree with it, such as political views. Net Neutrality is a term introduced by Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu and it is the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should treat all lawful content and traffic equally (Becker; Gharakheil). Under Net Neutrality, the Internet should be easily and equally accessible to all individuals, companies, and organizations. On February 26, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled in favor of Net Neutrality, reclassifying broadband as a common carrier under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. On December 14, 2017, the FCC voted in favor of repealing those rules and on June 11, 2018 Net Neutrality was officially repealed. Without net neutrality, ISPs could slow down certain internet traffic. One of the possible scenarios is that some Content Providers (CPs) could pay ISPs to prioritize their traffic over that of their competitors. There have been some examples of such behavior from ISPs; an example would be in 2014 when CP Netflix reached an agreement with ISP Comcast to improve the quality of service (QoS) to Netflix clients (Gharakheil). While Netflix experiences an increase in speed other traffic will be slowed, which could have a harsh impact on startups who are unable to afford the fee for a fast lane; a study in 2008 by the Aberdeen Group found that even a one-second delay could lead to 11% fewer page views, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction, and 7% loss in conversions (Dooley). The throttling of data can cause other problems, for example in late July 2018 during the California wildfire firefighters in Santa Clara County, California were faced with another problem other than the wildfire: a loss of communication. Verizon had throttled the broadband connection to a vehicle used to receive calls for help and to coordinate firefighters and equipment, because they had reached their monthly data allotment. According to Santa Clara County Fire Chief, instead of restoring a stable data transfer speed Verizon representatives had told County Fire that they would have to switch to a new data plan at more than double the cost. Verizon later apologized and announced that they would lift the data cap on all California emergency response vehicles (Sullivan). Some of the advocators for Net Neutrality are CPs such as Google, Facebook and Netflix. Their reason to support Net Neutrality is that ISPs are taking advantage of CPs by forcing them to pay for fast-lanes. Other proponents of Net Neutrality include consumer rights advocates and human rights organizations; they argue that an open Internet will foster free speech and that without Net Neutrality ISPs would abuse their position of power and stifle the peoples right of free speech. Without net neutrality internet access could also become more expensive for consumers. In some countries without net neutrality ISPs have already adopted tiered pricing structures, where higher bandwidth comes with a higher expense. In addition to this, some ISPs have set varying data caps on total data usage for users with different contracts. Without Net Neutrality ISPs could also take unfair advantage of users that have access to very few providers by charging them more simply because they have no other option other than to accept it or pay more. Under net neutrality ISPs are also unable to provide Internet access for free or at a reduced cost to low-income households, the concept is known as zero rating which allows customers to use certain services with no impact to their allotted data caps (Gharakheil, Willcox). While it sounds like a great idea it can also be harmful to the economy because ISPs are giving select CPs an advantage over their competitors. Without Open Internet rules preventing ISPs from abusing their position as gatekeepers to the Internet they can do just about anything they want. During June 2018 ATT completed their acquisition of Time Warner at a price of $85 billion and just days after that they planned on completing more acquisitions: Were standing up a significant advertising platform; you should expect some smaller [mergers and acquisitions] in the coming weeks to demonstrate our commitment to that, ATT CEO Stephenson said (Brodkin). Around the same time Comcast announced a $65 billion bid for Twenty-First Century Fox, even though they later dropped the bid allowing Disney to win, they instead focused on their acquisition of British broadcaster Sky which they succeeded with a bid of $39 billion. What these situations show is that they are quickly gaining more and more power and without Net Neutrality rules in place they will be able to prioritize their own services, while slowing down rivals or charging them a fee for access, which would harm competition. Even now the Net Neutrality is being heavily debated and its not looking good for Net Neutrality supporters. Just recently some ISPs have attempted to remove a court ruling from 2016 supporting net neutrality but were denied, and during the midterm elections of 2018 U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn who supports paid fast lanes on the Internet won a U.S. Senate seat. On December 12, 2018 SMS and MMS text messaging was reclassified as a Title I information service rather than a Title II telecommunications service, which gives give wireless providers the power to block and censor text messages (Reardon). On December 13, 2018 Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, who was backed by Comcast agreed to sign the petition to bring back Net Neutrality after initially refusing to sign a discharge petition aimed at overturning the FCC decision to repeal Net Neutrality (Cameron). If nothing is done Net Neutrality could eventually evolve into a much larger issue where large corporations have too much power and influence over the economy and politics. Just recently December 2018 President Trump gave large corporations such as Verizon a large tax cut and despite the favor Verizon killed over 10,000 jobs, or around 7 percent of its workforce while stating that it was necessary (Brodkin). As of right now it would seem like that a significant group of politicians are no longer representing us, the people, instead they are representing the large corporations behind them, according to a poll from University of Maryland among 75% of Republicans, 89% of Democrat, and 86% of independents opposed the repeal of Net Neutrality and despite such an overwhelming majority in favor of Net Neutrality, anti-Net Neutrality decisions seem to be a common occurrence (Overwhelming Bipartisan). There are many claims that net neutrality could harm innovation and stifle growth across the entire economy. One such claim is from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, he claims that Net Neutrality has harmed many ISPs, especially small ones and according to a letter to the FCC sent by 60 major technology suppliers including IBM, Intel, Qualcomm, and Cisco, Title II regulation of the Internet means that instead of billions of broadband investment driving other sectors of the economy forward, any reduction in this spending will stifle growth across the entire economy, but on June 27, 2017 the FCC received a letter from more than 40 ISPs stating that the open Internet rules have had no impact on their ability to grow (Falcon). ISPs should not be allowed to throttle internet traffic however they like and the Internet is also much more complex than telecommunication and should not be regulated under title II of the Communications Act of 1934, instead the Internet should be placed under its own unique title. Net Neutrality is still a relatively new topic and is not an issue that will be solved anytime soon and with such polarity the best solution would be to come to compromise that both sides can agree with, but it would be best if an Open Internet could be restored.